California today is frequently held up as a progressive model for the rest of the United States. In 2011, California had a $27 billion budget deficit. Today, it has a $19 billion budget surplus. In 2012, Californians voted to raise income taxes, particularly on the wealthy, to increase funding for under-performing schools. The state is […]
Yet as California Democrats exult in what they see as a glowing future, they are turning away from the models that once drove their party’s (and the state’s) success—a commitment to growth, upward mobility, and dispersed property ownership. California’s current prosperity is largely due to the legacy of Governor Pat Brown, who, a half-century ago, […]
Americans are split in their support for a hypothetical universal basic income (UBI) program that would guarantee a minimum income for workers who lose their jobs because of advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Forty-eight percent support and 52% oppose a UBI program for workers who are displaced by technology.
The incomes of U.S. households jumped in January, reflecting tax law changes that are reducing tax withholding and led to one-time bonuses for some households. After-tax income, including earnings from salaries, investments and other sources, rose 0.9% in January from December, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That matched the largest monthly gain since December 2012, […]
Not since the carbon tax has there been a proposal hotter than that of the universal basic income (UBI). Big Tech luminaries such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have expressed support for the scheme. The idea is that some ultra-lean government body cuts everyone a check periodically. No one is left to live in […]
Billionaire serial entrepreneur Richard Branson says cash handouts will eventually be required to keep people from becoming homeless in the US. “I think with the coming on of AI and other things there is certainly a danger of income inequality,” Branson tells CNN’s Christine Romans in a piece published Thursday. The inequality will be caused […]
A new “study” in Britain suggests that by raising taxes sharply on Facebook, Amazon and Apple, the government could pay for a universal basic income (UBI) for all Britons. It’s an absurd idea, which is why it can’t be counted out. . . . In the case of Britain, the left-wing paper The Guardian reports, […]
Weak productivity growth has been a head-scratcher for economists in recent years, but a new study argues the tide is poised to turn, and the next wave will be driven by digitization. The diffusion of new technologies into everyday use holds promise for bringing back the kinds of annual 2% productivity growth seen in the […]
The United States is on track to achieve the second-longest economic expansion in its history. Unemployment is at a 17-year low. And California’s state budget has a multibillion-dollar surplus. So why is its longtime governor, Jerry Brown, issuing prophecies of doom? . . . Mr. Brown’s statements highlight California’s distinction as a state of high […]
U.S. output has expanded only slowly since the recession trough in 2009, counter to normal expectations of a rapid cyclical recovery. Removing cyclical effects reveals that the deep recession was superimposed on a sharply slowing trend in underlying growth. The slowing trend reflects two factors: slow growth of innovation and declining labor force participation. Both […]
America’s biggest companies are about to tell the world for the first time how compensation for their chief executives compares with what they pay their rank-and-file workers. The disclosure, a requirement of the postcrisis Dodd-Frank law, is causing trepidation among top executives and corporate boards, and for good reason: The pay ratio, which is calculated […]
Homeowners soon will be able to count income they earn from Airbnb Inc. rentals on applications for refinance loans. A new program—expected to be announced on Thursday by Airbnb, mortgage giant Fannie Mae and three big lenders—will allow anyone who has rented out property on Airbnb for a year or longer to count some or […]
How does this relate to the safety net? With stagnant earnings since 1980, safety net resources become an even more important factor in making ends meet as cost of living increases. Our estimates show that major safety net program benefits play a critical role in mitigating poverty. The California poverty rate would be 8 points […]
Historically low unemployment is forcing headway on an issue that has been around since women entered the workforce: child care. Businesses increasingly see it as an issue vital to their operations and communities, and policy makers from New Hampshire to Michigan to Colorado have identified it as key to freeing up workers to fill stubborn […]
Marriage is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs around. But far too often, government assistance programs for people with low incomes discourage marriage, because tying the knot reduces government welfare assistance payments. . . . According to the Brookings Institution, the U.S. would have 25 percent less poverty today if we had the marriage […]