Overregulation

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Newsom’s Diaper Plan Stinks

Why a new program when the old one is working ok? The state argues that there are gaps in the existing program, which targets low-income parents. Instead of simply filling the gaps, the state wants to impose some elaborate scheme that is akin to killing a gnat with a shotgun. ...
Blog

Why Your Next Bottle of French Champagne Could Cost More: Tariffs & US Sparkling Wine Options

When I read the news that prices on French Champagne could soon be soaring under President Trump’s tariff plan, my first response was to quickly get to my nearest Costco. Veuve Clicquot champagne, still made much like it was when first developed over 200 years ago by the “Grande Dame” ...
Business & Economics

Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations

Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
Blog

California’s Policy Responses Risks Worsening a Bad Situation

Based on the bills legislators are considering, policymakers are learning the wrong lessons. Consider SB 222 (the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act) introduced by state Sens. Scott Wiener and Sasha Renée Pérez. By allowing plaintiffs to sue oil and energy companies for the costs created by natural disasters, SB ...
Business & Economics

Fast food minimum wage’s predictable result: Fewer jobs, even higher prices to come

Wouldn’t it be nice if the government could make everyone richer simply by passing laws that increase our income? Unfortunately, our world doesn’t work that way. When government chooses winners, someone loses, and nothing illustrates this better than when lawmakers set wage floors, as they did with California’s $20 fast-food ...
Business & Economics

Overuse of Executive Orders is a Problem

President Donald Trump has been issuing executive orders at a breakneck pace, keeping campaign promises to the delight of supporters. But be careful what you wish for. Trump won’t be in office forever. Read the entire op-ed in The Sacramento Bee.
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
Blog

Read about California's latest move against Elon Musk

SpaceX Delaunched In California

The California Coastal Commission voted 6-4 last week to oppose Musk’s plans to launch as many as 50 SpaceX rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Musk’s response was to take the agency to court, which he did Tuesday, claiming in a lawsuit that it ...
Blog

Rise Of The Machines

Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
Blog

Learn how government is trying to stop another merger

Why is ‘The People’s Attorney’ Suing to Block a Private Transaction That Will Benefit Shoppers?

Yet busybodies from Washington to Sacramento want to block Kroger’s plan to buy the Albertsons chain for $24.6 billion. They’re so hostile to the proposal that Kroger is even on trial: The Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, seven other state attorneys general and the District of Columbia ...
Blog

Newsom’s Diaper Plan Stinks

Why a new program when the old one is working ok? The state argues that there are gaps in the existing program, which targets low-income parents. Instead of simply filling the gaps, the state wants to impose some elaborate scheme that is akin to killing a gnat with a shotgun. ...
Blog

Why Your Next Bottle of French Champagne Could Cost More: Tariffs & US Sparkling Wine Options

When I read the news that prices on French Champagne could soon be soaring under President Trump’s tariff plan, my first response was to quickly get to my nearest Costco. Veuve Clicquot champagne, still made much like it was when first developed over 200 years ago by the “Grande Dame” ...
Business & Economics

Reversing Regulatory Overreach Will Encourage Payment Innovations

Innovation is often a victim of its own success as the once unimaginable becomes the invaluable service people cannot live without. The modern payments system exemplifies this phenomenon. Innovations by fintech startups as well as traditional financial companies now enable trillions of dollars in transactions annually. And thanks to robust ...
Blog

California’s Policy Responses Risks Worsening a Bad Situation

Based on the bills legislators are considering, policymakers are learning the wrong lessons. Consider SB 222 (the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act) introduced by state Sens. Scott Wiener and Sasha Renée Pérez. By allowing plaintiffs to sue oil and energy companies for the costs created by natural disasters, SB ...
Business & Economics

Fast food minimum wage’s predictable result: Fewer jobs, even higher prices to come

Wouldn’t it be nice if the government could make everyone richer simply by passing laws that increase our income? Unfortunately, our world doesn’t work that way. When government chooses winners, someone loses, and nothing illustrates this better than when lawmakers set wage floors, as they did with California’s $20 fast-food ...
Business & Economics

Overuse of Executive Orders is a Problem

President Donald Trump has been issuing executive orders at a breakneck pace, keeping campaign promises to the delight of supporters. But be careful what you wish for. Trump won’t be in office forever. Read the entire op-ed in The Sacramento Bee.
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
Blog

Read about California's latest move against Elon Musk

SpaceX Delaunched In California

The California Coastal Commission voted 6-4 last week to oppose Musk’s plans to launch as many as 50 SpaceX rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Musk’s response was to take the agency to court, which he did Tuesday, claiming in a lawsuit that it ...
Blog

Rise Of The Machines

Some years ago, in 2018, when the minimum wage in California was $11 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees, a Pasadena burger joint hired a machine named Flippy to turn patties on the grill. “The world’s first autonomous kitchen assistant,” an “upgrade on a human line cook,” ...
Blog

Learn how government is trying to stop another merger

Why is ‘The People’s Attorney’ Suing to Block a Private Transaction That Will Benefit Shoppers?

Yet busybodies from Washington to Sacramento want to block Kroger’s plan to buy the Albertsons chain for $24.6 billion. They’re so hostile to the proposal that Kroger is even on trial: The Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, seven other state attorneys general and the District of Columbia ...
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