Category: commentary

Irvine Named Best Large City in California for New Businesses

Commentary Irvine, Calif. is the best large city in the state to open a new business, according to a new tabulation by financial website WalletHub. WalletHub considered the ecosystem, as local entrepreneurs call it, within 100 cities related to access to resources. It took into account access to financing, venture capital investment per capita, and…


Home Prices up 12 Percent Year-Over-Year

Commentary Home prices in the U.S. increased in value during the past year at the fastest pace since the end of the 2006 real estate bubble that led to the Great Recession. Standard & Poors (S&P) compiled an index of home prices using an analytic framework developed by economic sciences Nobel laureate Robert Shiller and…


Program Offers Glimmer of Job-Creating Success

Commentary A California-sponsored program to help companies fund employees has helped create 124,000 new jobs since the program began in 2013. Furthermore, the “multiplier effect” of those primary jobs led to about 1.7 times that amount in additional positions within the same geographic areas, totaling about 338,000 extra jobs. Through the California Competes Tax Credit…


Most of Orange County’s School Districts Are in Debt

Commentary Of the 27 school districts in Orange County, just one has restricted net assets. The remaining districts have unrestricted net assets, meaning their liabilities exceed their assets. To help understand the solvency of school districts, I provided a chart. It provides the unrestricted net position from the June 30, 2019 audited financial statements from…


Economy in Western US is Improving, Report Says

Commentary The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (SF Fed) on April 14 reported ongoing demand in residential real estate, some tapering in mortgage refinance activity, and hiring of furloughed workers in the hospitality industries where health restrictions have been relaxed. As part of the Federal Reserve’s monthly Beige Book report, the SF Fed provided…