Our View: A wave of common sense washes over California politics
The political aftershocks from the recall of three left-leaning San Francisco school board members continue to spread to Sacramento and beyond. One of them is a rising chorus of outrage over an Alameda County Superior Court decision to allow a cap on enrollment at the University of California’s flagship campus in Berkeley. In the San Read More →
Opinion: When it comes to COVID response, wealth doesn’t always equal health
By Jan Nederveen Pieterse Differences in COVID-19 public health performance and health outcomes between regions and countries are staggering. A common-sense assumption is that wealth is health and the higher a society’s per capita income, the lower COVID deaths will be, and vice versa. But the data doesn’t bear this out. For example, compare COVID-19 Read More →
Our View: Don’t let NIMBYs limit California’s best universities
NIMBYism should not be used to destroy the public institutions that are the lifeblood of the California economy. Unfortunately, that is what’s happening in Berkeley, where a court order freezing enrollment at the University of California’s flagship campus may force massive cuts in incoming student admissions and trigger more than $50 million in lost tuition. Read More →
Our View: Remembering a giant of the region’s business community
Patrick James McCarthy, known simply as Pat, did not invent the idea of a tri-county economy. But thanks to a creative mind and a strong work ethic, he built a powerhouse construction firm that specialized in commercial-scale residential projects on a regionwide basis. Irreverent at times, always unflappable and with a keen sense of opportunity, Read More →
Opinion: Diversification works; here’s why
By Arthur Swalley The past two years in the capital markets are a textbook example of how diversification works. After the pandemic crash in February and March 2020, market returns were led by “pandemic” stocks like Zoom and Amazon. As interest rates remained low, resulting in higher multiples being placed on growing cash flows, large Read More →
Opinion: Europe could face economic fallout from Ukraine
By Benjamin J. Cohen As tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to escalate, a bipartisan group of United States senators is coming closer to finalizing legislation that would impose strict sanctions on top Russian officials. Benjamin Cohen, a distinguished professor emeritus of political science at UC Santa Barbara and an expert in international political economy, Read More →
