The Biden administration's recent $1.9 trillion (no typo) spendingpalooza provided huge allocations to help bail out failing state and city governments (and, to be fair, 10% of the outlays actually went to coronavirus relief). But not all cities, at least in California, are equal, according to the Los Angeles Times. SF, LA, and Oakland received more than twice as much per capita as San Jose.
Read MoreTom Means, professor of Economics at San Jose State University, spoke at a Saurman Provocative Lecture at SJ State, in which he explored the paucity of economic knowledge displayed by our political leaders. Means was formerly the mayor of Mountain View.
Read MoreAs minimum wage fever continues to grip Sacramento and Washington, D.C., Veronique De Rugy at Reason magazine provides a useful corrective on how minimum wage laws effectively prohibit young people from taking their first step on the employment ladder.
Read MoreAs San Jose City Council starts to absorb its progressive majority, Joel Kotkin at National Review reminds us what happens when liberal activists have free reign in municipal government: the working class and minorities suffer.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many social scientists to reconsider fundamental economic and government structures. While most aim to vastly increase state power, Marianna Mazzucato, professor of economics at University College London and author of the new book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, has a new, more optimistic idea. What if government acted like an angel investor for business? As reviewed by Frances Cairncross in the Literary Review.
Read MoreVeteran media scholar Mark Lisheron uses Garcia's retirement from SJ and hiring in Dallas as a platform to reveal when the "news" media is working a biased angle instead of actually reporting the facts. An Opportunity Now exclusive.
Read MoreWhile the Opportunity Housing debate in San Jose has focused mostly on the impact of zoning on segregated communities, advocates are turning a blind eye to the myriad of other government programs that disenfranchised people of color from wealth creation and home ownership. Richard Rothstein reports in Reason magazine.
Read MoreOne of the many ways government limits job growth, personal realization, and individual liberty is occupational licensing: requiring people to jump through bureaucratic hoops to cut hair and polish nails. Florida shows the hoops can get taken down, as Mike Riggs reports for Reason magazine.
Read MoreSan Jose debates how to create an iconic public space and how to design the Google Diridon project. Nate Hochman in National Review has some ideas for what to do, and what not do.
Read MoreMany residents were floored over the recent San José Office of Cultural Affairs art exhibit, “Holding the Moment” which included a work many people thought glorified, or at the very least normalized, violence against law enforcement.
Read MoreThe Housing Department of the City of San Jose recently introduced a new podcast series, "Dwellings," produced by department staff, which claims to present expert opinion on the housing issues facing the city. "Dwellings," however, fails to deliver on its stated purpose. Instead of presenting neutral, or at least balanced, viewpoints on local housing issues, the podcast takes a one-sided, hard-left posture towards housing issues--even on issues about which the council has not given the department direction.
Read MoreWhile local DA's refuse to prosecute lawbreakers, local progressives call for defunding the police, and SJ's Office of Cultural Affairs throws money at art that falsely maligns and incites violence against the police, guess what happens? Murders soar. San Jose's increase of 22% aligns with national trends. NPR reports.
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