No Nonsense Economics
A High Five for EB-5
Advocates pushing for both education and immigration reform in the United States often invoke the ‘needs’ of the U.S. labor market in making their pitch. For example the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly releases occupation forecasts for the nation, identifying how many Bachelor Degrees the nation needs to produce in the next 20 years to fill open positions in
A Crisis Too Good To Waste
Between California’s odd summer storm, rising seawater temperatures, and muggy summer, it’s pretty clear that the El Nino weather phenomena is starting to form out in the Pacific Ocean. This promises to make the next few winters wet ones, and bring on the beginning of the end of the drought that has been plaguing the state. But that doesn’t mean
U.S. Financial Markets: What, Me Worry?
There has been a lot of ‘bubble’ talk lately. Sure, there is the lunatic fringe—such as Ron Paul’s online interview about the coming crash of the U.S. currency, or Jim Rickard’s dire warnings of the impending 25-year depression conveniently laid out in a $25 hardcover book ($13.99 for the Kindle edition!). But now, a number of more conventional voices are
Autonomous Cars On The Way… What Do They Mean For Infrastructure Investment?
Here in Los Angeles, the first thing visitors learn is that our public transportation system won’t get them anywhere. The second thing they learn is that, according to legend, Henry Ford is the reason why. Car manufacturers (tire manufacturers in some retellings) tore up all of the train lines in Los Angeles in the early 20th century to make way
Jerry’s Choice And The California ‘Drought’
Not long ago I wrote a short piece here on No Nonsense Economics noting that the current water situation in California should more aptly be named a ‘water shortage’ rather than a ‘drought’, the difference being that a drought is a water shortage with significant negative economic consequences. Such consequences are not something the state has experienced over the last few years
We Need More Daylight Savings… Not Less!
Well, we recently went through the annual process of moving our clocks ahead an hour for daylight savings, and once again, the whole process has come under attack. This year it was featured prominently on the HBO comedy series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in a segment called “Why is this still a thing?” There was nothing terribly new in the
School Construction Bonds: A Matter of Fairness
Governor Jerry Brown announced in his recent budget proposal that California should stop issuing school construction bonds. This came as a bit of a surprise to many. School bonds generally cruise through the State Legislature and very rarely fail at the ballot box. The State Assembly unanimously passed a $9 billion bond initiative last year before it stalled with the
Some Perspective On The Ports
If you haven’t caught the news, which would be tough given recent press exposure, it looks like the ongoing conflict between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) has finally come to an end. The last contract between the two expired in mid-2014 and the parties had been unable to reach an agreement on
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