California leads way in putting Amazon in its place
October 23, 2011
California's role as a pioneer of crucial social, political and technological movements — the Internet, clean air standards, property tax reform, Lindsay Lohan case law — is part of the legacy we teach our schoolchildren.
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Herman Cain's murky 9-9-9 tax plan
October 18, 2011
Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan would probably be seen as just another cockamamie tax scheme were it not for his surprising ascendance to front-runner ranks in the Republican Party primary.
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A debit of gratitude to Bank of America
October 15, 2011
This may be a very unpopular thing to say about Bank of America and its planned $5 monthly debit card fee, but it's worth saying anyway:
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Occupy Wall Street shifts from protest to policy phase
October 12, 2011
How do you know when a protest movement is starting to scare the pants off the establishment?
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Steve Jobs: More than a turnaround artist
October 5, 2011
Everyone knows Steve Jobs pulled off one of the outstanding corporate turnarounds in U.S. history, and that he did it on the strength of cool products.
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Clinics plug nonprofit to help patients get Lap-Band coverage
October 5, 2011
Jessica Bleaman, 21, responded in 2009 to an ad from 1-800-GET-THIN, the outfit that has been touting weight-loss surgery incessantly in the Southland via broadcast commercials and freeway billboards. Her experience with the gastric-banding purveyors didn't turn out well, but her alleged medical problems were only part of it.
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Book review: 'The Quest'
September 25, 2011
The Quest
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Why Rick Perry is wrong about Social Security
September 16, 2011
Misinformed and mendacious attacks on Social Security have become such familiar conservative shibboleths that it can be hard to muster the energy to beat them down anymore.
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California special exemption for NFL stadium plan not so special
September 13, 2011
Back in 2009, the California Legislature enacted a special exemption from state environmental laws for billionaire developer Ed Roski's proposed NFL stadium in the City of Industry.
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Obama's jobs push conjures up FDR's approach of the 1930s
September 11, 2011
Is Barack Obama finally channeling his inner FDR?
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On a quest for decent telecom service
September 7, 2011
It's tough to admit, but I made a big mistake.
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Tales from Simon Ramo, the voice of experience in management
September 4, 2011
A corporate chairman accused of making illegal campaign contributions fires the board member who calls him out, inspiring a directors' revolt.
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An undeserved attack on the 'undeserving poor'
August 31, 2011
Amid the crowd-rousing shorthand employed by some American politicians, surely one of the hardiest chestnuts is the notion of the "undeserving poor."
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Amazon takes the low road
July 17, 2011
Greed, we are told by the moral philosophers, brings out the worst in human beings. As Amazon.com is about to prove, the same rule applies to big corporations.
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Payroll tax cuts rob the poor to feed the rich
June 19, 2011
The silver lining in economic crises, if there is one, is that they can lead us to reexamine the flaws in the capitalist system and chisel out the rot.
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Regional investment bank aims for a reprise
May 18, 2011
Jim Freedman and his partners have been here before.
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Book review: 'Common as Air' by Lewis Hyde
October 31, 2010
Common as Air
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Coffeepot maker vents about doing business in California
July 30, 2009
Wilbur D.Curtis invented the globular glass coffeepot, that staple of coffee counters everywhere, in 1940. Since then his son and grandsons have turned Wilbur Curtis Co. into a manufacturing concern that earns revenue approaching $100 million by turning out commercial coffee brewing equipment from a sprawling factory in Montebello.
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CalPERS appears to be a willing victim
July 27, 2009
Students of the fine art of pointing fingers know that the key thing is to not make yourself look like an idiot in the process.
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File California tax system revision effort under flawed
July 20, 2009
In these budget-crisis days, when California citizens showing true public spirit are thin on the ground, I propose a tip of the hat to Gerald L. Parsky.
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It's time to close a big tax loophole for businesses
July 13, 2009
Of all the ways in which California residents have slit their fiscal throats over the last 30 years, surely the most inexplicable is the bestowal of a gaping tax loophole on commercial and industrial property owners.
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Mercury General using guise of benevolence to assault Prop. 103
July 2, 2009
The art of setting automobile insurance rates is incomprehensible to most of us civilians. Liability coverage, comprehensive insurance, assigned risk pools, discounts, surcharges . . . the list goes on. Just try to figure out how your carrier arrived at the figure at the bottom of your itemized bill -- I know nuclear physicists who can't do that math.
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A California tax on oil drilling? Why not?
June 15, 2009
The most persistent misconception about Californians is that we hate to raise taxes. The truth is that we adore raising taxes -- as long as someone else is paying, that is.
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In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?
May 7, 2009
My life as a fast-food consumer pretty much ended the moment my kids became old enough to drive themselves to the nearest hamburger stand.
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Apple's condition linked to Steve Jobs' health
January 5, 2009
Some important questions can't be asked without sounding crass and insensitive. But there's no way around asking this one that's on everybody's mind, so here goes:
