Housing
Business & Economics
Give A Convict A Job
Never has it been more evident that California is in a downward spiral on the verge of economic, social and political collapse San Francisco is now pushing to make convicted criminals a protected class so that prospective employers cannot inquire about criminal records. An already precarious business climate in ...
Business & Economics
New consumer bureau will be a bust – guaranteed
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally begins operations. Republicans oppose President Obama’s top choice, Elizabeth Warren, to head the new bureau, which should not have been created in the first place. The CFPB will drive up prices, but won’t actually protect consumers. Consider first the sheer implausibility ...
Business & Economics
Recession and Recovery in California
Last month Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Project, held forth at the University of California Sacramento Center on key themes involving recession and recovery. Nickelsburg agrees that we are in a “deep recession,” in contrast to those of 2001 and 1990, which were “very mild recessions.” He ...
Business & Economics
California GOP the party of numbskulls
California Republicans love to talk about limiting government, fighting bureaucracy and keeping taxes low, but March 17 they proved that this is nothing more than a rhetorical device. Given the opportunity to rein in the size and power of government in a tangible way, Assembly Republicans – with a sole ...
Business & Economics
Analyze This: Unelected Regulatory Zealots Don’t Need More Power
California’s Legislative Analyst (LAO) is a nonpartisan body “providing fiscal and policy advice to the Legislature for more than 70 years,” according to its website. Some of its recent advice is seriously misguided, such as a proposal to expand the power of an unelected body, headed by regulatory zealots, that ...
Business & Economics
The Fed needs to free the market
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission issued its finding that the devastating economic events of the past few years were “preventable.” The FCIC heaped the blame on many parties, but drew the wrong conclusion when it faulted the government and Federal Reserve for lax oversight. On the ...
Business & Economics
Cities go on wild spending sprees
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown has been caught flat-footed in his plan to shutter the state’s redevelopment agencies as cities across California continue to squander their redevelopment cash, tying up hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term spending on half-baked projects simply to keep the money away from the state. ...
Business & Economics
Redevelopment is Redistribution
Nine of Californias big-city mayors met recently with Gov. Jerry Brown in an attempt to talk him out of eliminating redevelopment agencies (RDAs) as part of his budget-balancing proposal. The mayors support keeping RDAs intact because they believe it is through redevelopment that cities create jobs. Without redevelopment agencies, several ...
Business & Economics
Unintended Consequences: Eminent Domain:( A Teacher’s Guide)
The Constitution was written to protect individual rights from government power. The Founders believed property rights to be one of the most important individual rights. Eminent Domain is the concept of government taking private property for public use. Fifth Amendment to the Constitution grants the power of eminent domain to ...
Business & Economics
Double dip looks doubly certain
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (MarketWatch) — Economists and financial analysts are currently arguing whether the economy will experience a “double dip,” a recession followed by a short recovery, followed by another recession. Some think the worst is behind us, and that output and employment will slowly but steadily increase during the next ...
Give A Convict A Job
Never has it been more evident that California is in a downward spiral on the verge of economic, social and political collapse San Francisco is now pushing to make convicted criminals a protected class so that prospective employers cannot inquire about criminal records. An already precarious business climate in ...
New consumer bureau will be a bust – guaranteed
In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally begins operations. Republicans oppose President Obama’s top choice, Elizabeth Warren, to head the new bureau, which should not have been created in the first place. The CFPB will drive up prices, but won’t actually protect consumers. Consider first the sheer implausibility ...
Recession and Recovery in California
Last month Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Project, held forth at the University of California Sacramento Center on key themes involving recession and recovery. Nickelsburg agrees that we are in a “deep recession,” in contrast to those of 2001 and 1990, which were “very mild recessions.” He ...
California GOP the party of numbskulls
California Republicans love to talk about limiting government, fighting bureaucracy and keeping taxes low, but March 17 they proved that this is nothing more than a rhetorical device. Given the opportunity to rein in the size and power of government in a tangible way, Assembly Republicans – with a sole ...
Analyze This: Unelected Regulatory Zealots Don’t Need More Power
California’s Legislative Analyst (LAO) is a nonpartisan body “providing fiscal and policy advice to the Legislature for more than 70 years,” according to its website. Some of its recent advice is seriously misguided, such as a proposal to expand the power of an unelected body, headed by regulatory zealots, that ...
The Fed needs to free the market
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission issued its finding that the devastating economic events of the past few years were “preventable.” The FCIC heaped the blame on many parties, but drew the wrong conclusion when it faulted the government and Federal Reserve for lax oversight. On the ...
Cities go on wild spending sprees
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown has been caught flat-footed in his plan to shutter the state’s redevelopment agencies as cities across California continue to squander their redevelopment cash, tying up hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term spending on half-baked projects simply to keep the money away from the state. ...
Redevelopment is Redistribution
Nine of Californias big-city mayors met recently with Gov. Jerry Brown in an attempt to talk him out of eliminating redevelopment agencies (RDAs) as part of his budget-balancing proposal. The mayors support keeping RDAs intact because they believe it is through redevelopment that cities create jobs. Without redevelopment agencies, several ...
Unintended Consequences: Eminent Domain:( A Teacher’s Guide)
The Constitution was written to protect individual rights from government power. The Founders believed property rights to be one of the most important individual rights. Eminent Domain is the concept of government taking private property for public use. Fifth Amendment to the Constitution grants the power of eminent domain to ...
Double dip looks doubly certain
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (MarketWatch) — Economists and financial analysts are currently arguing whether the economy will experience a “double dip,” a recession followed by a short recovery, followed by another recession. Some think the worst is behind us, and that output and employment will slowly but steadily increase during the next ...
