California economy
Back to homepage
Why CA carbon auction and overall AB 32 approach are doomed
This month marks the seventh anniversary of Arnold Schwarzenegger signing AB 32 amid an orgy of self-congratulation over this alleged environmental landmark. Ever since then, I’ve written regularly about the basic flaw of AB 32: reducing the emissions believed to
Read More
Underappreciated Prop. 13 fact: It protects vulnerable in housing bubbles
As the push builds in Sacramento to undercut Proposition 13 by weakening its limits on how fast business property taxes can increase, it’s worth making two basic points in defense of the 1978 initiative — one of which doesn’t get
Read More
Hank Jr. on the Depression
New numbers show that the co-called economic “recovery” is bogus. See Adam O'Neal's new article. And a new report showed that a record 90,473,000 Americans 16 years and older are not in the labor force. It's just going to get
Read More
Fossil fuel ‘divestment’ may add to CA pension funding nightmare
If any state in America displays more of a need for a consistent commitment to pension “best practices” than California, I’m not aware of it. Some states’ main retirement systems may be in worse shape than the California Public Employees’
Read More
Fracking: Can we trade CA Dems for PA Dems?
The New York Times and the Huffington Post have reported that the Obama administration supports fracking and doesn’t buy the alarmism of the enviromental lobby on this. Now another prominent publication, the National Journal, points out a fact that the
Read More
New fiscal year: CA Revenue down, jobless up
While the nation’s economy is creeping upward, California’s is creeping downward. The latest: Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance reported: “Sales and use tax receipts were $123 million below the month’s forecast of $1.710 billion. July represents the final payment for second quarter
Read More
Chart shows how weak recovery is
The DOW stock index supposedly shows we’re enjoying a strong recovery. It recently set records, although it’s off a bit today. Not really. Thanks to Chart of the Day, here’s the history of the DOW adjusted for inflation:
Read More
Phony ‘recovery’: Home ownership at 18-year low
More proof there has been no “recovery”: “The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7
Read More
CA media still eager for higher taxes
The way that Sacramento beat reporters judge developments is so much different than the way a typical California adult would. Consider what the Los Angeles Times’ Marc Lifsher wrote about the agenda of Gov. Jerry Brown after the Legislature ended
Read More
CA residents most likely to go from poor to rich
A massive statistical analysis of upward and downward economic mobility in the United States that is getting big play on The New York Times website is loaded with fodder for interesting comments about American life. Here are the key conclusions
Read More