Business & Economics
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Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Blog
Read the latest about California's misguided energy policies
As Chevron Exits California, Will Still Attempt to Buy Its Oil Refineries?
It’s unlikely that was the plan. But it is interesting that at roughly the same time Chevron made its announcement, which was no surprise to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Energy Commission issued a staff report that includes a dedicated section (Chapter 3, page 7) on “State-Owned Refineries.” It’s ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Blog
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Business & Economics
Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom
Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers
Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
Business & Economics
New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster
Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Business & Economics
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Blog
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions
President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory
Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Blog
Fast food restaurants are raising prices after minimum wage hike
Their Pleasure: Legislators Cook Up A Law That Burns Fast Food
The new prices, which won’t go up in other states, depend on where the restaurant is. A double-double meal combo at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf now costs $13.63 including taxes; not far away in Daly City, the same meal is $2 cheaper, says the New York Post. In Irvine, near ...
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Read the latest about California's misguided energy policies
As Chevron Exits California, Will Still Attempt to Buy Its Oil Refineries?
It’s unlikely that was the plan. But it is interesting that at roughly the same time Chevron made its announcement, which was no surprise to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Energy Commission issued a staff report that includes a dedicated section (Chapter 3, page 7) on “State-Owned Refineries.” It’s ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Undermines the Social Responsibility of Businesses and Investment Managers
The concepts behind Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing and management are the latest theory trying to address a long-standing question: What is the appropriate social function of a business? This question predates Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times piece “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ...
Read why latest employer is leaving California
Chevron’s Departure Highlights California’s Risky Economic Future
Companies have been decamping from California for greener pastures so frequently that, in some ways, Chevron’s announcement is barely newsworthy. The particulars of Chevron’s decision are important, however, because they exemplify the large economic risks California’s policymakers are taking. Judged by their actions, California’s political leaders, including Governor Newsom, have ...
Read the latest on gig work and worker freedom
Kamala Harris Is Bad News for Gig Workers
Two million independent contractors caught a break from the California supreme court when it recently upheld a ballot initiative that was intended to overcome Sacramento’s patently obvious effort to outlaw gig work. Any celebrations should wait, though. The administration wants to take California’s war on worker freedom national. The PRO ...
New study shows fast food minimum wage law already a disaster
Is it too soon to declare California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers a disaster? After all, it became law only four months ago. How much harm could have been done in such a narrow time frame? Short answer? Quite a bit. The results of a just-released business survey ...
Biden’s rent-control plan will only make America’s housing crisis worse
President Joe Biden is suggesting that a federal limit on annual rent increases in residential units will ease housing costs. This is what happens when economist Milton Friedman isn’t “running the show”: Policymakers follow ideas that make the problem they say they’re solving infinitely worse. “While the prior administration gave special ...
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's national ambitions
President Newsom, For The Power And The Glory
Biden’s troubling performance in the June 27 CNN debate fueled the ongoing discussions of who could and should replace him as the Democratic candidate. Of course every list included Newsom, who was a Biden surrogate at the debate and obviously has his eye on the White House even as he ...
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Fast food restaurants are raising prices after minimum wage hike
Their Pleasure: Legislators Cook Up A Law That Burns Fast Food
The new prices, which won’t go up in other states, depend on where the restaurant is. A double-double meal combo at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf now costs $13.63 including taxes; not far away in Daly City, the same meal is $2 cheaper, says the New York Post. In Irvine, near ...
