Business & Economics
Business & Economics
Anna Nicole Smith Was No Jimmy Stewart
In Frank Capra’s classic 1946 movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the straight-arrow president of a struggling small-town building and loan company played by Jimmy Stewart realizes his bumbling Uncle Billy has lost $8,000 of the company’s cash on Christmas Eve afternoon, just as a bank examiner is arriving for an ...
Business & Economics
Taxing consumption, not income
Clemens is director of research and Murphy is a senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute. They are co-authors of the California Prosperity Project series of studies. Commission recommends changes to make state revenue less volatile The report by the state Commission on the 21st Century Economy, delivered Tuesday after ...
Business & Economics
State Commission Recommends Tax Reforms for a New Century
The Commission on the 21st Century Economy, tasked by the governor to modernize the state’s tax system and stabilize revenues, finally delivered its report this week. The main recommendations are to eliminate the state sales tax and corporate income tax and replace them with a new “net receipts tax” on ...
Business & Economics
FCC’s Genachowski Not Neutral on New Net Rules
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski stirred up the Net neutrality pot last week with his speech at the Brookings Institution where he pledged to create new rules for governing the Internet. While the chairman’s comments were delivered eloquently, they were problematic for a number of reasons. The FCC ...
Business & Economics
Michigan can’t afford ‘FDA defense’ repeal
During the past 10 years, Michigan has had a declining population, a shrinking job market and the worst personal income growth of any state. Its unemployment rate is an incredible 15.4 percent, but now Michigan stands to lose even more jobs in one of the state’s remaining robust sectors. The ...
Business & Economics
Torts, taxes hinder Pennsylvania’s prosperity
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of occasional commentaries on how Pennsylvania can turn around its economic fortunes. Wrongheaded economic development policies and one of the nation’s worst labor climates are serious impediments to Pennsylvania’s prosperity. As if those obstacles were not enough, the commonwealth also has ...
Business & Economics
Global Unease About Obama Administration Heard at Two Conferences
As luck would have it, just as the Obama Administration was upending America’s global relationships for the last ten days, I was in Europe and attended two conferences on international politics. Together these conferences gave a good cross section of opinion about Mr. Obama and the U.S. in policy centers ...
Business & Economics
The Best States For Business
The recession hit everywhere, but Virginia is booming compared with the rest of America. The carnage of the economic downturn is everywhere with bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment soaring nationwide. None of the 50 states are immune. Only two, Alaska and North Dakota, are expected to see employment gains this year. ...
Business & Economics
Ending estate tax will create and save jobs
Like many other small-business owners, my first office was the kitchen table. When we started the family business in 1979, we had a modest goal: to earn enough money to pay the bills and put our kids through college. Little did we know that RFI Enterprises, a security systems company, ...
Business & Economics
UC Giveaway Disrespects Students, Taxpayers
Last week University of California students protested a proposed 32 percent hike in fees, which follows a 9.3 percent increase approved in May. The hikes should call attention to a recent UC giveaway of $4 million, under pressure from Sacramento politicians, to a propaganda mill that should not be on ...
Anna Nicole Smith Was No Jimmy Stewart
In Frank Capra’s classic 1946 movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the straight-arrow president of a struggling small-town building and loan company played by Jimmy Stewart realizes his bumbling Uncle Billy has lost $8,000 of the company’s cash on Christmas Eve afternoon, just as a bank examiner is arriving for an ...
Taxing consumption, not income
Clemens is director of research and Murphy is a senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute. They are co-authors of the California Prosperity Project series of studies. Commission recommends changes to make state revenue less volatile The report by the state Commission on the 21st Century Economy, delivered Tuesday after ...
State Commission Recommends Tax Reforms for a New Century
The Commission on the 21st Century Economy, tasked by the governor to modernize the state’s tax system and stabilize revenues, finally delivered its report this week. The main recommendations are to eliminate the state sales tax and corporate income tax and replace them with a new “net receipts tax” on ...
FCC’s Genachowski Not Neutral on New Net Rules
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski stirred up the Net neutrality pot last week with his speech at the Brookings Institution where he pledged to create new rules for governing the Internet. While the chairman’s comments were delivered eloquently, they were problematic for a number of reasons. The FCC ...
Michigan can’t afford ‘FDA defense’ repeal
During the past 10 years, Michigan has had a declining population, a shrinking job market and the worst personal income growth of any state. Its unemployment rate is an incredible 15.4 percent, but now Michigan stands to lose even more jobs in one of the state’s remaining robust sectors. The ...
Torts, taxes hinder Pennsylvania’s prosperity
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of occasional commentaries on how Pennsylvania can turn around its economic fortunes. Wrongheaded economic development policies and one of the nation’s worst labor climates are serious impediments to Pennsylvania’s prosperity. As if those obstacles were not enough, the commonwealth also has ...
Global Unease About Obama Administration Heard at Two Conferences
As luck would have it, just as the Obama Administration was upending America’s global relationships for the last ten days, I was in Europe and attended two conferences on international politics. Together these conferences gave a good cross section of opinion about Mr. Obama and the U.S. in policy centers ...
The Best States For Business
The recession hit everywhere, but Virginia is booming compared with the rest of America. The carnage of the economic downturn is everywhere with bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment soaring nationwide. None of the 50 states are immune. Only two, Alaska and North Dakota, are expected to see employment gains this year. ...
Ending estate tax will create and save jobs
Like many other small-business owners, my first office was the kitchen table. When we started the family business in 1979, we had a modest goal: to earn enough money to pay the bills and put our kids through college. Little did we know that RFI Enterprises, a security systems company, ...
UC Giveaway Disrespects Students, Taxpayers
Last week University of California students protested a proposed 32 percent hike in fees, which follows a 9.3 percent increase approved in May. The hikes should call attention to a recent UC giveaway of $4 million, under pressure from Sacramento politicians, to a propaganda mill that should not be on ...
