For the first time in five years, violent crime was down in Los Angeles in 2018, with the number of homicides on track to be among the lowest in more than 50 years. The data mirror an overall drop in crime this year in the parts of L.A. County patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department, as […]
We estimate that California’s total state and local government debt as of 6/30/2017 totaled just over $1.5 trillion. That total includes all outstanding bonds, loans, and other long-term liabilities, along with the officially reported unfunded liability for other post-employment benefits (primarily retiree healthcare), as well as unfunded pension liabilities. Our findings may appear to contradict […]
American manufacturing growth slowed sharply in December, adding to concerns about cooling economic expansions in the U.S. and abroad. The Institute for Supply Management said Thursday that its manufacturing index fell to 54.1 in December, the largest one-month drop since the end of 2008, during the financial crisis. Still, a reading above 50 indicates factory […]
U.S. employers added jobs at a robust pace in December and wages posted their biggest full-year gain of the expansion, providing a strong new counterpoint to recent worries in financial markets that the economy is sputtering because of trade frictions and rising interest rates. Stock prices rose on the economic news, then jumped even higher […]
No other country on Earth has bet as big on electric vehicles as Norway, and it’s finally paying off. Half of all new cars sold to Norwegians are either fully electric or hybrid, making the country of 5.3 million the biggest per-capita market for EVs. Norway’s EV success is owed to both the carrot and […]
Washington, D.C. is positioning itself on the climate policy fast track. The District of Columbia city council voted unanimously last week to approve an expansive climate bill requiring utility providers to generate 100 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources by 2032. If D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the legislation as expected, the provisions […]
The typical analysis of state and local government finances is that they are primarily a function of the economy. When the economy is growing well, and especially when it is growing faster than expected, local and state government finances prosper. When the economy grows, more people are employed and employees have larger paychecks. State income […]
Back in June we declared, “Basic income could work—if you do it Canada style.” We talked to the people on the ground getting the checks in Ontario’s 4,000-person test and saw how it was changing the community. Then, just two months later, it was announced that the program is ending in the new year rather […]
Proposition 13 is untouchable. That’s been the thinking for 40 years in California. Politicians have feared for their careers if they dared suggest changes to the measure that capped property taxes, took a scythe to government spending and spawned antitax initiatives across the country. However, that is beginning to change. With Republican influence in California […]
A measure of confidence among American households fell for a second consecutive month, weighed down by weaker expectations for economic growth and heightened market volatility. The Conference Board said Thursday that its index of U.S. consumer confidence dropped to 128.1 in December, down from 136.4 in November. The October index reading of 137.9 was the […]
For older Americans, the last few years of work can be a vital chance to patch up thin savings or pay down debt to ease their way into retirement. Many aren’t getting that opportunity. . . . Even though the official unemployment rate is just 3% for older workers, the actual jobs environment is surprisingly […]
Where are people thinking of moving to and from? An analysis of searches on real estate sites is the easiest way to find out. So that’s what Redfin did. The company recently examined searches of homes for sale by more than a million Redfin users in 90 metropolitan areas between July and September of 2018, […]
New York again lost the most domestic migrants, at 180,000, down from last year’s peak for the decade of 193,000. California’s net domestic out-migration continued to intensify, with a loss of 156,000, which has steadily risen from 41,000 in 2011. Illinois, where the housing is considerably more affordable than California, but lacks the economy of […]
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is leaning toward spending billions of dollars to rebuild three aging gas-fired power plants, even as California aims to eliminate fossil fuels, a goal endorsed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Consultants hired by the utility say the city should invest those ratepayer dollars in continuing to burn natural […]
Acounty plan that would allow housing developers to pay their way around restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions looks increasingly to be on shaky legal ground. The Sierra Club has challenged the plan in court as part of its longstanding fight with the agency over its so-called climate action plan. A superior court judge issued a tentative […]