Transportation

California

Mass Transit Ridership is Falling in Southern California, Study Finds

By Kenneth Artz A new study finds commuters are increasingly choosing to use cars over mass transit in Southern California. Mass transit use in six southern California counties declined significantly during the past decade, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) ...
Blog

Politicians Want to “Wet Their Beaks” in Taxing Uber and Lyft

Uber and Lyft have generated billions in gross revenue in California. It’s a dazzling data point that has caught the eyes of some politicians who are unable to resist the covetous urges that arise when they watch commercial enterprises thrive. Elected officials regard Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing companies — ...
Blog

An entitlement for… moi?

If you think this is going to be one of those hard-hitting policy pieces that you get from the likes of Anaya and Jackson, or one of those brainy blogs from Winegarden.  It’s not.  It’s all about me, and my yearning for that fabulous, subsidized Tesla. I’m in the market ...
Business & Economics

Government Should Leave Sharing Economy Alone

Governments tend to target innovative industries that are too new to be regulated and single them out for punitive taxes and nasty abuse. As Art Laffer once put it, governments aren’t happy when business pioneers enjoy “success without the benevolent, guiding wisdom of” of the regulatory state. This was the ...
Business & Economics

By Killing Off Ride-Sharing, Austin Puts It In Reverse

“Keep Austin Weird” is a slogan dreamed up by the Texas city’s independent business alliance to promote local businesses and to keep national corporations out of the city. By recently regulating ride-sharing companies out of business, Austin became more than just weird — it’s now perfectly unique. The supposed tech ...
Business & Economics

California’s Regulations are Harming Small Businesses

The regulatory burden in California continues to grow. Minimum wage increases—which simultaneously raise costs on businesses and harms many low-wage workers and consumers—have passed in Los Angeles and San Francisco. California is also pursuing regulations that would reduce the viability of Uber and Lyft, the popular ride-for-hire services revolutionizing how ...
Business & Economics

States Where Regulations Harm Small Businesses The Most

The federal and state governments continue to impose ever-more burdensome regulations on businesses across the country. Overall, in 2014 alone, the Obama Administration imposed an estimated $181.5 billion in proposed and final regulatory costs on the U.S. economy according to a study by the American Action Forum. And, the federal ...
California

California’s costly green subsidies

If there was any doubt about the economic success of state-mandated green programs, it was erased this week after a state Senate hearing about the future of alternate fuels. By the end of the four-hour session, it was clear that environmental special interests are thriving in California. At the hearing, ...
Business & Economics

The War Against Free Parking

From San Diego to Susanville, Californians know that a free parking space is hard to find. Such spaces may be even harder to find under SB 518, proposed by state senator Alan Lowenthal. Like much of what emerges from Sacramento, the measure is at least instructive. Free parking only encourages ...
Agriculture

Analyzing the politics of climate change

San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
California

Mass Transit Ridership is Falling in Southern California, Study Finds

By Kenneth Artz A new study finds commuters are increasingly choosing to use cars over mass transit in Southern California. Mass transit use in six southern California counties declined significantly during the past decade, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) ...
Blog

Politicians Want to “Wet Their Beaks” in Taxing Uber and Lyft

Uber and Lyft have generated billions in gross revenue in California. It’s a dazzling data point that has caught the eyes of some politicians who are unable to resist the covetous urges that arise when they watch commercial enterprises thrive. Elected officials regard Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing companies — ...
Blog

An entitlement for… moi?

If you think this is going to be one of those hard-hitting policy pieces that you get from the likes of Anaya and Jackson, or one of those brainy blogs from Winegarden.  It’s not.  It’s all about me, and my yearning for that fabulous, subsidized Tesla. I’m in the market ...
Business & Economics

Government Should Leave Sharing Economy Alone

Governments tend to target innovative industries that are too new to be regulated and single them out for punitive taxes and nasty abuse. As Art Laffer once put it, governments aren’t happy when business pioneers enjoy “success without the benevolent, guiding wisdom of” of the regulatory state. This was the ...
Business & Economics

By Killing Off Ride-Sharing, Austin Puts It In Reverse

“Keep Austin Weird” is a slogan dreamed up by the Texas city’s independent business alliance to promote local businesses and to keep national corporations out of the city. By recently regulating ride-sharing companies out of business, Austin became more than just weird — it’s now perfectly unique. The supposed tech ...
Business & Economics

California’s Regulations are Harming Small Businesses

The regulatory burden in California continues to grow. Minimum wage increases—which simultaneously raise costs on businesses and harms many low-wage workers and consumers—have passed in Los Angeles and San Francisco. California is also pursuing regulations that would reduce the viability of Uber and Lyft, the popular ride-for-hire services revolutionizing how ...
Business & Economics

States Where Regulations Harm Small Businesses The Most

The federal and state governments continue to impose ever-more burdensome regulations on businesses across the country. Overall, in 2014 alone, the Obama Administration imposed an estimated $181.5 billion in proposed and final regulatory costs on the U.S. economy according to a study by the American Action Forum. And, the federal ...
California

California’s costly green subsidies

If there was any doubt about the economic success of state-mandated green programs, it was erased this week after a state Senate hearing about the future of alternate fuels. By the end of the four-hour session, it was clear that environmental special interests are thriving in California. At the hearing, ...
Business & Economics

The War Against Free Parking

From San Diego to Susanville, Californians know that a free parking space is hard to find. Such spaces may be even harder to find under SB 518, proposed by state senator Alan Lowenthal. Like much of what emerges from Sacramento, the measure is at least instructive. Free parking only encourages ...
Agriculture

Analyzing the politics of climate change

San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 2009 We hear it every day. News headlines read: “Global Warming Biggest Threat of 21st Century, Experts say.” (businessweek.com. May 13th, 2009. Gardner, Amanda). News anchors provide us with a choice, either we believe the scientists that support global warming hypotheses, or we reject science ...
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