No Respite for Business vs. Labor Battles During Pandemic
The Covid-19 flame of disease, death and economic devastation has only served to bring aspects of the traditional battle between business and labor to a boil. Optimistically, one might think that the call of ‘all in this together’ would have different interests pulling on the same end of the rope in hopes of quick economic […]
What Will a Post-Virus Housing World Look Like?
The COVID-19 (Corona virus) pandemic sweeping the globe will go down in history as the single-most compelling incident of our time. It ranks up there with the devastation – to both property and the human psyche – of World War II. It’s kept us cooped up in our homes and wrecked the economy. It’s touched […]
More Budget Do’s and Don’ts
Having served in state government during two difficult budget periods (2003-4 and 2009-10) and on the Volcker-Ravitch State Budget Crisis Task Force in 2012, I have participated in and studied many bad and good state budget practices. Some takeaways: Maintain Perspective. As Governor Newsom pointed out last week, the state’s expected shortfall this time is […]
How a Rural California Town Got Universal Broadband
If California is really the global tech capital, why is it so hard for our small towns to get the Internet service they need? One answer to that question is in Gonzales, a Salinas Valley settlement of 9,000. While California’s biggest cities now struggle to provide Internet access for people to work and study from […]