Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
Hawaii needs a handy ‘adjust policy’ tab
I just gave Hawaii the best economic outlook in the country, and all it took was a few mouse clicks. Typically, Hawaii ends up in the bottom half among all states in the many surveys of economic freedom and outlook. For example, the Economic Freedom of North America...
Hey, shipbuilders, Jones Act reform is your friend
A groundbreaking new study of America’s Jones Act might be of some comfort to U.S. shipbuilders and shipyard workers who have been worried by increased calls for repeal or reform of the protectionist federal shipping law. Issued in April by the highly respected...
Why people are leaving ‘paradise’
The exodus continues. According to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of urban Honolulu declined in 2018 for the second year in a row, to 347,397, almost 1.3 percent less than the 2016 count of 351,883. People aren’t just leaving Honolulu....
Self-driving cars another nail in rail’s coffin
Self-driving cars are just around the corner for America, but as we begin to embrace the future, Honolulu’s over-budget and behind-schedule rail project is firmly stuck in the past. Automated vehicles are expected to become the norm in the United States within the...
The ‘Rail Skim’ lawsuit: We lost the battle but won the war
A long time ago, in October 2015 to be more precise, the Tax Foundation of Hawaii sued the state. Why? Because at the time, the state was skimming 10 cents off every dollar that was being collected for rail, and it plopped the money into the state’s general fund,...