Government Spending
Paul Atkins – ESG Investing: Doing well and doing good? Or not?
Our guest this week is Paul Atkins, CEO of Potomak Partners, a financial services consulting firm in Washington, DC. Paul was also a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2002 to 2008. We discuss with Paul ESG – environmental, social, and governance – investing and its negative …
City services will get slammed as public pay goes up
Consider these recent increases: University of California Health. In February, unionized medical residents at UC’s six urban medical centers (in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and Orange) were prescribed 16-percent raises over two years. Los Angeles. In April, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School district went …
Government Size Boosts Corruption
Government Size Boosts Corruption John Seiler | March 10, 2023 Does the size of government reflect the level of corruption? I’ve come up with a way to test that. It involves two variables. First, U.S. city corruption scandals, 2020 to the present, where an official was convicted. Wikipedia lists 12. …
Privatization saves money and improves city services
What is the purpose of city government? If you’re an ordinary person, you might figure something like the establishing of certain types of rules (mainly around business and building) and the providing of certain types of services (from parks to policing). City residents, business owners, developers and visitors pay taxes …
State Budget Update: Newsom’s Vetoes Foreshadow Tough Budget Year Ahead
Gov. Newsom recently completed the bill signing period, issuing his final signatures and vetoes on the final measures from the 2022 legislative session that remained on his desk. On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Newsom has been touting the California blue state agenda as the way forward for …
Nothing Curative About Dems Inflation, Higher Taxes and Prices
Congressional Democrats are one step closer to passing their trillion-dollar “Build Back Better” spending package. On July 6 U.S. Senate leaders hashed out a key proposal that would allow Medicare to “negotiate” with pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices. The effort is part of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s, D- N.Y., drive …
Rounding Up The Usual Suspects Won’t Alleviate Inflation
Doing his best Captain Renault impersonation, President Biden is trying to alleviate the troubling inflationary environment by “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, that means blame a problem that can only be caused by errant government policies on politically convenient targets such as rising drug prices, Russia’s invasion of the …
A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But Americans also …
Handcuffing Freelancers Is Bad For Economy And Small Business
Addressing the persistent problem of inflation requires pro-growth fiscal and regulatory policies in addition to concerted tightening by the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, President Biden’s plan to address inflation, as outlined in his recent Wall Street Journal editorial, would implement the exact opposite. Instead of empowering entrepreneurs to accelerate growth and improve prosperity, …
Beating Back Inflation: Team Reagan vs. Team Biden
Last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices for everyday items like groceries, rents, and gas rose 8.3 percent in April from a year ago, just below March’s surge of 8.5 percent. Could this be a sign that inflation …
Paul Atkins – ESG Investing: Doing well and doing good? Or not?
Our guest this week is Paul Atkins, CEO of Potomak Partners, a financial services consulting firm in Washington, DC. Paul was also a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2002 to 2008. We discuss with Paul ESG – environmental, social, and governance – investing and its negative …
City services will get slammed as public pay goes up
Consider these recent increases: University of California Health. In February, unionized medical residents at UC’s six urban medical centers (in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and Orange) were prescribed 16-percent raises over two years. Los Angeles. In April, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School district went …
Government Size Boosts Corruption
Government Size Boosts Corruption John Seiler | March 10, 2023 Does the size of government reflect the level of corruption? I’ve come up with a way to test that. It involves two variables. First, U.S. city corruption scandals, 2020 to the present, where an official was convicted. Wikipedia lists 12. …
Privatization saves money and improves city services
What is the purpose of city government? If you’re an ordinary person, you might figure something like the establishing of certain types of rules (mainly around business and building) and the providing of certain types of services (from parks to policing). City residents, business owners, developers and visitors pay taxes …
State Budget Update: Newsom’s Vetoes Foreshadow Tough Budget Year Ahead
Gov. Newsom recently completed the bill signing period, issuing his final signatures and vetoes on the final measures from the 2022 legislative session that remained on his desk. On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Newsom has been touting the California blue state agenda as the way forward for …
Nothing Curative About Dems Inflation, Higher Taxes and Prices
Congressional Democrats are one step closer to passing their trillion-dollar “Build Back Better” spending package. On July 6 U.S. Senate leaders hashed out a key proposal that would allow Medicare to “negotiate” with pharmaceutical companies over prescription drug prices. The effort is part of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s, D- N.Y., drive …
Rounding Up The Usual Suspects Won’t Alleviate Inflation
Doing his best Captain Renault impersonation, President Biden is trying to alleviate the troubling inflationary environment by “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, that means blame a problem that can only be caused by errant government policies on politically convenient targets such as rising drug prices, Russia’s invasion of the …
A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But Americans also …
Handcuffing Freelancers Is Bad For Economy And Small Business
Addressing the persistent problem of inflation requires pro-growth fiscal and regulatory policies in addition to concerted tightening by the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, President Biden’s plan to address inflation, as outlined in his recent Wall Street Journal editorial, would implement the exact opposite. Instead of empowering entrepreneurs to accelerate growth and improve prosperity, …
Beating Back Inflation: Team Reagan vs. Team Biden
Last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the prices for everyday items like groceries, rents, and gas rose 8.3 percent in April from a year ago, just below March’s surge of 8.5 percent. Could this be a sign that inflation …
