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California Politicians Not Serious About Fixing Housing Crisis

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This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.

California’s political leaders, having ignored and even abetted our housing shortage, now pretend that they will “solve it.” Don’t bet on it.

Their big ideas include a $4 billion housing subsidy bond and the stripping away of local control over zoning, and mandating densification of already developed areas. None of these steps addresses the fundamental causes for California’s housing crisis. Today, barely 29 percent of California households, notes the California Association of Realtors, can afford a median-priced house; in 2012, it was 56 percent. Read more

McIntyre In The Morning Interviews Joel Kotkin on California Transit

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By: KABC 790
On: McIntyre In The Morning

Joel Kotkin interviewed on KABC. Joel discusses California transit policy, Measure M — and whether or not the way we are spending money makes sense.

Click the Play button to listen.

California’s Coming Youth Deficit

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This article first appeared in The Orange County Register

Images of California, particularly the southern coast, are embedded with those associated with youthfulness — surfers, actors, models, glamorous entrepreneurs. Yet, in reality, the state — and the region — are falling well behind in the growth of their youthful population, which carries significant implications for our future economic trajectory and the nature of our society.

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State Governments Are Oppressive, Too

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Historically, the battle over the size and scale of government has been focused largely on “states’ rights.” This federalist notion also has been associated with many shameful things, such as slavery, Jim Crow laws and other abuses of personal freedom.

Yet, increasingly, the clearest threat to democracy and minority rights today comes not just from a surfeit of central power concentrated in Washington, D.C., but also from increased centralization of authority within states, and even regional agencies. Oppressive diktats from state capitals increasingly seek to limit local control over basic issues such as education, zoning, bathroom designations, guns and energy development.

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What’s the Future of Beleaguered Fossil Fuels?

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This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.

Perhaps no economic issue — even trade — is as divisive as the energy industry. Once a standard driver of economic progress, the conventional energy industry has become increasingly vilified by the national media Read more

High-Flying California Charts Its Own Path — Is A Cliff Ahead?

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This piece originally appeared at Forbes.

As its economy bounced back from the Great Recession, California emerged as a progressive role model, with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman arguing that the state’s “success” was proof of the superiority of a high tax, high regulation economy. Some have even embraced the notion that California should secede to form its own more perfect union. Read more

Is California Anti-family?

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This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.

In its race against rapidly aging Europe and East Asia, America’s relatively vibrant nurseries have provided some welcome demographic dynamism. Yet, in recent years, notably since the Great Recession and the weak recovery that followed, America’s birthrate has continued to drop, and is now at a record low. Read more

Can California Survive a Tech Bust?

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This article first appeared in the The Orange County Register.

California’s economic revival has sparked widespread notions, shared by Jerry Brown and observers elsewhere, that its economy — and policy agenda — should be adopted by the rest of the country. And, to be sure, the Golden State has made a strong recovery in the last five years, but this may prove to be far more vulnerable than its boosters imagine. Read more

How to Take Advantage of the Retail Apocalypse

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This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.

Amazon’s stunning acquisition last week of Whole Foods signaled an inflection point in the development of retail, notably the $800 billion supermarket sector. The massive shift of retail to the web is beginning to claw into the last remaining bastions of physical space. In the last year alone, 50,000 positions were lost in the retail sector, and as many as 6 million jobs could be vulnerable nationwide in the long term. Store closings are running at a rate higher than during the Great Recession.

Yet, there’s an opportunity opening for cities and regions to take advantage of new space for churches, colleges, warehouse space and, most importantly, housing. Read more

Joel Kotkin on California’s Descent into Socialism

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By: KFIAM640
On: John and Ken Show

California prides itself on being the resistance. Resist Trump, fight climate change, be progressive, it’s all a bunch of nonsense. There’s no way the left’s ideas can really work. California has become a dangerous liberal experiment. Read more