It was another rollicking conversation on “The Mike Buck Show” when host Mike Buck on Dec. 29, 2020, again hosted Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, this time to talk about how Hawaii can recover from its devastating economic condition exacerbated most recently by the coronavirus lockdowns, now in their 11th month.
Broadcast on AM 690 and FM 94.3, The Answer, the half-hour conversation concerned “How to put Hawaii on the road to prosperity.” It was based on the institute’s policy brief issued last May titled “Road map to prosperity,” which is available for reading or download on the Grassroot Institute website.
Said Buck about the report: “It’s amazing what can come up with when a bunch of thinkers get together and are able to have a little chit-chat [and] come up with things that just make so much sense that they probably won’t happen (laughs).”
Significantly, the institute’s “road map” is the only report of its kind that does not advocate more taxes, spending, borrowing or regulations. Instead, it recommends less state spending, lower taxes, fewer regulations and reform of the federal maritime law known as the Jones Act, all to generate more economic activity and put people back to work, thus lowering the cost of living, generating more taxes for the state and county governments and fostering greater prosperity.
