For the past decade, the soaring stock prices and nosebleed valuations of Silicon Valley’s IPOs and tech sector unicorns has been a boon for California, helping create a record budget surplus of almost $22 billion. Yet this bonanza has occurred just as the state’s overall job creation, once among the country’s leaders, has slowed to a more middle of the road status.
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Googleplex_HQ_sml.jpg400495Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky2019-07-08 08:44:072019-07-08 08:45:32California Can’t Afford to Be an Economic One-Trick Pony
America was conceived with the highest ideals about humanity — “all men are created equal” — but operated also as a racial republic, where rights were delineated by race, leaving only white males with the full set of powers.
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ta-nehisi-coates.jpg400495Joel Kotkin/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin2019-07-02 10:45:332019-07-16 14:59:40Reparations and the Racial Republic
In 1920 Europe was home to over half of world Jewry and many of its most creative, dynamic communities; today it contains barely 10% of the world’s Jews. Europe will not become completely judenrein in the near future. But the signs of decline are everywhere and the endpoint to which they lead appears inescapable.
In the past, the right, notably the segment affiliated with religious belief, was closely associated with censorship and control of thought. Today, enforced orthodoxy derives primarily from the left, emboldened by near total control of the media, university curricula and cultural products.
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/HarvardYard.jpg400495Joel Kotkin/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin2019-06-27 08:06:172019-06-27 08:06:17The Rise of the Intolerant Left
The scale of China’s urban migration is staggering; however, authoritarian planning, rising class tensions, and sophisticated population surveillance cast a shadow on the country’s rapidly growing cities.
The recent movement to investigate, and even break up, the current tech oligarchy has gained support on both sides of the Atlantic, and even leapt across the gaping divide in American politics. The immediate concerns relate to such things as the control of key markets by one or two firms, the huge concentration of wealth accruing to the tech elite and, increasingly, the oligarchy’s control over and manipulation of information pipelines.
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Study_for_Brave_New_World-painting.jpg400495Joel Kotkin/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin2019-06-24 07:00:172019-06-24 08:31:56What Do the Oligarchs Have In Mind For Us?
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/president-donald-trump_by-gage-skidmore.jpg400495Joel Kotkin/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin2019-06-20 14:12:122019-06-20 14:12:30As United States Divide, The Green New Deal Could be Democrats Undoing in 2020
Perhaps no issue more motivates progressive activists than social justice. Good intentions may motivate the social justice warriors, but good intentions do not necessarily produce good results. Indeed, often the policies favored by progressive idealists hinder the economic and social progress of the very people they seek to rescue.
https://joelkotkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/protest-march-to-trump-tower.jpg400495Joel Kotkin/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/jkotkin_logo.pngJoel Kotkin2019-06-18 13:52:262019-06-20 13:53:31What is Social Justice?
The recent California Democratic Party convention exposed the divide between the state’s progressive and working-class voters. Progressives support left-wing policies that often don’t affect them; it’s the working class that suffers from these proposals. But the Green New Deal pushed too far, triggering a backlash at the convention.
The recent upsurge in support for populist conservatives, not only across Europe, but in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and even India has inspired talk of “a nationalist revival” and “the cosmic magnetism” of Donald Trump and Brexit.
California Can’t Afford to Be an Economic One-Trick Pony
/in California, The EconomyFor the past decade, the soaring stock prices and nosebleed valuations of Silicon Valley’s IPOs and tech sector unicorns has been a boon for California, helping create a record budget surplus of almost $22 billion. Yet this bonanza has occurred just as the state’s overall job creation, once among the country’s leaders, has slowed to a more middle of the road status.
Reparations and the Racial Republic
/in Politics, The EconomyAmerica was conceived with the highest ideals about humanity — “all men are created equal” — but operated also as a racial republic, where rights were delineated by race, leaving only white males with the full set of powers.
Judenrein Europe
/in Politics, ReligionIn 1920 Europe was home to over half of world Jewry and many of its most creative, dynamic communities; today it contains barely 10% of the world’s Jews. Europe will not become completely judenrein in the near future. But the signs of decline are everywhere and the endpoint to which they lead appears inescapable.
The Rise of the Intolerant Left
/in Politics, The Economy, Urban AffairsIn the past, the right, notably the segment affiliated with religious belief, was closely associated with censorship and control of thought. Today, enforced orthodoxy derives primarily from the left, emboldened by near total control of the media, university curricula and cultural products.
China’s Urban Crisis
/in Urban AffairsThe scale of China’s urban migration is staggering; however, authoritarian planning, rising class tensions, and sophisticated population surveillance cast a shadow on the country’s rapidly growing cities.
What Do the Oligarchs Have In Mind For Us?
/in Politics, Urban AffairsThe recent movement to investigate, and even break up, the current tech oligarchy has gained support on both sides of the Atlantic, and even leapt across the gaping divide in American politics. The immediate concerns relate to such things as the control of key markets by one or two firms, the huge concentration of wealth accruing to the tech elite and, increasingly, the oligarchy’s control over and manipulation of information pipelines.
As United States Divide, The Green New Deal Could be Democrats Undoing in 2020
/in Demographics, Politics, The EconomyMore than by cultural memes touching on race, gender, and even taste, the United States are divided by where we live and how we make our living.
What is Social Justice?
/in Politics, The EconomyPerhaps no issue more motivates progressive activists than social justice. Good intentions may motivate the social justice warriors, but good intentions do not necessarily produce good results. Indeed, often the policies favored by progressive idealists hinder the economic and social progress of the very people they seek to rescue.
California’s Progressive Betrayal
/in California, Politics, The EconomyThe recent California Democratic Party convention exposed the divide between the state’s progressive and working-class voters. Progressives support left-wing policies that often don’t affect them; it’s the working class that suffers from these proposals. But the Green New Deal pushed too far, triggering a backlash at the convention.
The Populist Dilemma
/in PoliticsThe recent upsurge in support for populist conservatives, not only across Europe, but in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and even India has inspired talk of “a nationalist revival” and “the cosmic magnetism” of Donald Trump and Brexit.