Fees & Fines, The Backdoor Way to Fund Government

Last year, Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, said during a speech that “With the same values and preferences, and the same basic attitude about government activity versus private activity, you should expect government to be larger in the future than it has been in the past.” He explained the reasons: 

The Next Governor Must Balance Capitalism and Social Policies

Capitalism depends on a well-functioning government. And vice versa. What most people don’t realize is that California’s State Government is equivalent to a Fortune 50 company. Its 2018-2019 proposed budget is $190 Billion* and it employs up to 260,000 full-time employees. Overall, the public sector in CA plays a very significant role in supporting the […]

Building A More Sustainable Economy One Neighborhood at a Time

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the L.A. riots. Though many of the issues that helped fan the flames of the unrest – poverty, unemployment and crime – still persist in the neighborhoods of South L.A. (and other parts of the region), there is a growing sense that change is coming. The question […]

What Los Angeles Can Learn From the Warner Bros.

In 1917, Jack Warner was summoned to Los Angeles by one of his older brothers, Sam, to create a foothold in the fledgling movie-making business. The Warner brothers – Albert, Harry, Sam, and Jack – were already well established in the movie exhibition business but saw the real opportunity in producing movies. By 1927, their […]

Would Howard Hughes Invest in Los Angeles Today?

Howard Hughes, Jr. moved to Los Angeles from Texas in 1925 to leverage his diverse talents and knack for invention. That he did and more. By September 1945, the end of WWII, Hughes Aircraft Company employed 80,000 workers designing and building planes, making Hughes the largest employer in the region. By the 1960s his products—spacecraft, […]

Would Albert Einstein Come to Los Angeles Today?

LA must work harder to harness its talent and competitive advantages to create quality jobs On New Year’s Day 1931, Albert Einstein arrived in Pasadena to take up a winter appointment as a Visiting Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. What drew him here were the theories of a Caltech professor, mathematical physicist Richard […]

American Fast Forward Takes Major Leap Ahead

Amid today’s unnecessary partisan debates over formally bipartisan issues, the Environment and Public Works Committee, led by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) and Republican Senator Jim Inhofe (OK), passed legislation today to invest in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and put up to 2.8 million people back to work. This action by the EPW committee in […]