Not long ago, I quoted Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck’s conclusion about the results of rent control. He wrote that in many cases, it “appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.” Lindbeck, however, seems to have missed an even better way to wreak havoc on major […]
Anyone concerned about the future of the state and local budgets should pay particular attention to what the state’s non-partisan legislative analyst had to say about Proposition 10, the ballot measure that repeals the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, including protections for tenants and single-family home owners. The Legislative Analysts Office (LA) noted Prop 10 could […]
Oil prices could spike as high as $200 per barrel over the next 18 months, which would cause an “economic crash of horrible proportions,” according to a new report. A research paper from economist and oil market watcher Philip K. Verleger predicts there could be a shortage of low-sulfur diesel fuel in 2020 as a […]
Why is this all happening now? After all, scientists have been working on these alternative types of reactors since the beginning of the Cold War, yet they’ve never caught on. The history of advanced reactors is littered with the carcasses of failed attempts. A salt-cooled reactor first ran successfully back in 1954, but the United […]
Big businesses want lower taxes. Cities—and many of the people who live in them—want lower rates of homelessness. Lately, the compatibility of these two desires is being tested, as local governments across the U.S. float a new strategy to help the growing number of unsheltered people on their streets: Asking businesses to pay a greater […]
In January 2012 California Governor Jerry Brown announced he would ask California voters to approve temporary increases in income and sales taxes. Later that year his proposal was embodied in Proposition 30. Projected by the Legislative Analysts Office to raise $6 billion per year for four years and smaller amounts for three years (ie, $42 […]
The California Supreme Court issued a decision on April 30, 2018 in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court which significantly changed the standard for determining independent contractor versus employee status in California. The state’s business community is deeply troubled by this court decision and believes that the Legislature needs to urgently consider a bill […]
Battle lines are forming over what could be one of the most contentious fights about housing in California in decades. I’m talking about Proposition 10, the November ballot initiative that would overturn California’s Costa-Hawkins Rent Control Act and let local governments impose any form of rent control on any type of rental housing within their […]
Sacramento home sales have hit a summer slump as potential buyers back away from escalating prices and rising mortgage interest rates. New data shows that 4,300 homes sold in the region in June, a modest amount, but notably nearly 5 percent fewer than the number of sales in June last year, according to CoreLogic, a […]
A quick bit of background: On July 6, the temperature hit 108 degrees in Los Angeles. A day later it hit 104 degrees, roughly 20 degrees hotter than normal. The scalding temperatures led to record electricity demand forcing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to ask customers to voluntarily cut their electricity use. […]
A judge has given the go-ahead to a lawsuit accusing California of violating the rights of hundreds of thousands of minority and poor children to equal access to educational literacy. The suit was filed in December on behalf of elementary school students and their families in two districts in Los Angeles and Stockton and a […]
Raising minimum wages and welfare grants and offering a state tax credit to the working poor may have some impacts on the margin. However, the extra incomes they generate are quickly consumed by higher housing costs, plus the higher gas taxes, local sales taxes and energy bills being imposed to deal with other political priorities. […]