Blog
Blog
City planners ignore the importance of ‘human capital’
City planners ignore the importance of ‘human capital’ by Kerry Jackson | September 14, 2023 Depending on who’s talking and who’s listening, the United States has a number of cities that are failing, caught in a doom loop of self-destruction. San Francisco is today’s favorite target. A succession of stumbling ...
Blog
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Blog
Read about latest green mandate failure
Failure of Electric Bus Maker Latest Sign of Trouble in Path to State’s All-EV Future
The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round but it’s not a smooth ride when the powerplant is a battery. Proterra, the Burlingame, California, company that makes electric buses as well as large trucks, vans and components for other manufacturers, has filed for bankruptcy. Just as Barack Obama hyped ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Here’s Not How to End the Hollywood Strikes: Granting Unemployment to Strikers
With Hollywood’s strikes in the headlines daily and no end in sight, California Democrats are proposing legislation that would allow striking workers to draw unemployment benefits. If enacted, the bill would be a transparent gift to the unions that control California politics. To be eligible for unemployment compensation under current ...
Blog
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer By Steven Greenhut | September 9, 2023 In one of the most-fascinating real-estate stories in American history, a secretive group of buyers purchased 30,000 acres of mostly swampland in central Florida in the 1960s. Hemmed in by urbanization at his ...
Blog
How will scandal impact reforms?
Aftermath of a scandal: Anaheim council spars over reforms
The recent reform effort, led by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, comes at a wild time at City Hall. Aitken’s predecessor, Harry Sidhu, recently agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. The findings of an explosive independent investigation were recently published and support much of what the federal authorities alleged last ...
Blog
Read about latest job killer bill
Lawmakers Push Yet Another Drain on California Employers Stretched to the Breaking Point
If California policymakers set out to punish and in some cases eventually destroy small businesses, they would add to employers’ already heavy burden by nearly doubling the number of paid sick days they have to provide. Which is exactly what they are doing. Senate Bill 616, passed on Sept. 1 ...
Blog
Read End of Session Preview
Three Bills to Watch in Final Two Weeks of Legislative Session
While new speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) probably lines up along the same lines ideologically as his predecessor Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), their styles could not be more different. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven recently put it, “Rendon had given his appointed committee chairs outsized authority, allowing them ...
Blog
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity by John Seiler | September 2, 2023 IN FEBRUARY 2010 SHARP PAINS STRUCK MY GUT around 8 a.m. I drove from my apartment in Huntington Beach to Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital, one of the country’s best, parked and struggled into the emergency room. ...
Blog
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
City planners ignore the importance of ‘human capital’
City planners ignore the importance of ‘human capital’ by Kerry Jackson | September 14, 2023 Depending on who’s talking and who’s listening, the United States has a number of cities that are failing, caught in a doom loop of self-destruction. San Francisco is today’s favorite target. A succession of stumbling ...
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Read about latest green mandate failure
Failure of Electric Bus Maker Latest Sign of Trouble in Path to State’s All-EV Future
The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round but it’s not a smooth ride when the powerplant is a battery. Proterra, the Burlingame, California, company that makes electric buses as well as large trucks, vans and components for other manufacturers, has filed for bankruptcy. Just as Barack Obama hyped ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Here’s Not How to End the Hollywood Strikes: Granting Unemployment to Strikers
With Hollywood’s strikes in the headlines daily and no end in sight, California Democrats are proposing legislation that would allow striking workers to draw unemployment benefits. If enacted, the bill would be a transparent gift to the unions that control California politics. To be eligible for unemployment compensation under current ...
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer By Steven Greenhut | September 9, 2023 In one of the most-fascinating real-estate stories in American history, a secretive group of buyers purchased 30,000 acres of mostly swampland in central Florida in the 1960s. Hemmed in by urbanization at his ...
How will scandal impact reforms?
Aftermath of a scandal: Anaheim council spars over reforms
The recent reform effort, led by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, comes at a wild time at City Hall. Aitken’s predecessor, Harry Sidhu, recently agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. The findings of an explosive independent investigation were recently published and support much of what the federal authorities alleged last ...
Read about latest job killer bill
Lawmakers Push Yet Another Drain on California Employers Stretched to the Breaking Point
If California policymakers set out to punish and in some cases eventually destroy small businesses, they would add to employers’ already heavy burden by nearly doubling the number of paid sick days they have to provide. Which is exactly what they are doing. Senate Bill 616, passed on Sept. 1 ...
Read End of Session Preview
Three Bills to Watch in Final Two Weeks of Legislative Session
While new speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) probably lines up along the same lines ideologically as his predecessor Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), their styles could not be more different. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven recently put it, “Rendon had given his appointed committee chairs outsized authority, allowing them ...
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity by John Seiler | September 2, 2023 IN FEBRUARY 2010 SHARP PAINS STRUCK MY GUT around 8 a.m. I drove from my apartment in Huntington Beach to Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital, one of the country’s best, parked and struggled into the emergency room. ...
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
