Small Business Saturday a Success
With the holiday shopping season focused on big name companies on Black Friday and the growth of online buying, small business, rightfully called the ‘engine of the job-making economy,’ is sometimes ignored. That’s why it is satisfying to see the survey results released by the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express declaring the […]
Republicans Survive 2016
The great tsunami has come and gone, and of all things the California Republican Party has survived. Hillary Clinton will carry California with over 62 percent, Donald Trump will be lucky to get 32 percent when all the ballots are counted. These terrible numbers should have led to massive down ballot GOP defeats but they […]
California: Where Bernienomics Goes to Die
The presence of Bernie Sanders in television commercials this fall in support of a California ballot initiative on drug pricing demonstrates the ongoing appeal the Vermont senator has for the Golden State’s many liberal voters, despite his ill-fated presidential campaign. It would be hard to imagine two states more different than Vermont and California, but, […]
Escaping L.A.’s High Cost of Doing Business
The Santa Clarita Valley along with cities in the Antelope and Conejo valleys often market themselves as a kind of low-cost alternative. A business in those places can enjoy the benefits of being in the Los Angeles area but evade many of the high costs associated with the L.A. basin. In case anyone was wondering, […]
How Much Can California Ask of its Rivers?
California is finally embracing its rivers. But it may be a choking embrace. We Californians have long celebrated our coastal splendor and toasted the height and beauty of our mountains. But our rivers? For most of us, they have been a mere utility, the plumbing that moved water around the state.. Today the Golden State, […]
A Conundrum for California’s Supreme Court
Justices are supposed to put aside any personal conflicts when deciding cases before them. But justices are not robots and dual concerns will be eating at California Supreme Court justices when they decide on arguments dealing with the public pension case they agreed to hear out of Marin County. The justices’ decision could firm up […]
Would Someone Wake the Governor?
Immediately after the election, I wrote in this space that Gov. Jerry Brown was now the president of the American dream, if not the United States. Representing more Democrats than anyone else, he was the natural leader of the opposition to Trump, and he was in the best position to stand up for idea-based governance […]
How Long Can This California Employment Expansion Last?
Since February 2010, California has been experiencing near-steady monthly job growth, with a net gain of over 2.3 million payroll jobs from early 2010 through October 2016. How does this lengthy job expansion compare to previous expansions in California? How long can it continue?
Best states for MFG growth since the recession
Since manufacturing is the engine of economic growth, especially for the middle class, we thought we would see which states are having the sector’s best bouncebacks since the recession. Of the 32 states that average more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs overall, Michigan has attracted the largest percentage of growth with 32.49 percent since 2010. California was […]