Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
People are the solution, not the problem
After the great success of the “Avengers” movies, the internet was full of people explaining that Thanos, the villain of the series, had a point. For those of you who have managed to escape the omnipresence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos was a powerful alien...
How to fill Hawaii’s vacant health care jobs
When we talk about why so many Hawaii residents are leaving the state, we usually think about young people just starting out. But those aren’t the only ones we are losing. The “brain drain” also has hurt us when it comes to critical professions. For example, the...
How to give everybody a raise
Discussions about the minimum wage tend to overlook an obvious fact: Lowering the cost of living would make everyone’s pay go further, especially the less fortunate. How much further? Simply getting to the point where a dollar has its full spending power would be a...
Don’t make the Jones Act worse
It’s probably not news to you that the federal Jones Act requires all goods shipped between U.S. ports to be on ships built, owned and flagged in the U.S. and crewed mostly by Americans. You probably also are aware of the many absurdities it produces — like how it’s...
‘Gut and replace’ should be gutted
It’s that time of year again when the infamous Rusty Scalpel Award is given to some deserving bill from the most recent state legislative session, and this year the winner is House Bill 1586, blandly titled “Relating to the Structure of Government.” The bill was...