IHS Consultants just published a report that lifting the U.S. oil export ban would cause U.S. crude oil production to rise by an average of 1.2 million barrels a day. The study argues that allowing crude oil exports would improve the fit
Standard and Poor’s Credit Rating Service announced on June 2nd that the ratings on New Jersey’s general obligation (GO) bonds, appropriation-backed, and moral obligation debt were placed on Credit Watch with negative implications. The warning means that S&P could lower the
The San Francisco Chronicle carried a story over the weekend that chastised Silicon Valley venture capitalists for failing to throw money at the marijuana industry the Chronicle says is “experiencing a 68 percent growth rate.” Despite the fact that venture
The Contra Costa Times reports that a group of about 60 protesters representing the Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) held California’s first demonstration against what the group calls “bomb trains” that will be bringing as much as 1.3 million gallons of
Mid-western farmers are usually afraid of not enough rain hurting their corn harvests. But this year, annual rainfall already averages 150-300% across the nine states referred to as the “Corn Belt” and a big rain system is expected to hit
Time published a story May 27 entitled: “Meg Whitman Has the Hardest Job in Silicon Valley,” that claimed Meg Whitman, in cutting headcount and shrinking the size of Hewlett Packard (HP), is being too aggressive. Virtually every sector of HPs businesses
Corporate America was an early supporter of Obamacare, because CEOs thought they could “game the system” by dumping their sickest workers onto state and federal healthcare exchanges that are often subsidized by taxpayers. But in an unexpected financially important ruling,
According to a report from the bipartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and 21 other agencies of the federal government’s Executive Branch “do not have adequate policies for managing software licenses.” Despite the federal
The latest Gallup poll indicates that 79% of Americans believe big business is “Creating important new products and technologies,” but only 43% believe large companies are “Creating good jobs for Americans.” The majority of the American public perceive that large
French Socialist economist Thomas Piketty made a big splash in the U.S. recently with his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. The 600-page tome argues that since the owners of capital end up with capital, it must be globally taxed
Memorial Day weekend has usually been a time for families to take a big car trip, and 31.8 million Americans will do so this Memorial Day weekend according to AAA. But the total number of miles driven per person peaked
After five years of the federal government telling the public that despite a $3.5 trillion increase in monetary expansion, the inflation rate is below +2%, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) just warned the American public that the consumer price index
Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists funded 321 deals in the first quarter of 2014, up 9% from last year and the highest rate since the peak of 347 in 2007. Despite terrible investment returns in the past, the fastest growing area
California Governor Jerry Brown got some kudos from Republicans for not funding new boondoggles and promising to focus on paying down the $166.9 billion in unfunded state liabilities for the teachers’ pension plan. Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar)
China agreed to fund a $2 billion multi-lateral investment fund in cooperation with the African Development Bank. The move is a departure from China’s former “cheque book” policy of investing directly in individual countries. Beijing appears to be forming the “Africa
Freshman Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) reported from the House floor on May 22nd that a group of Veteran’s Administration (VA) disability officers have filed federal whistle-blower complaints and/or sworn affidavits. The complaints stated that the Oakland, California VA has had a
With jobs, wages, and the economy picking up steam, the Federal Reserve warned financial institutions in their April 29-30 Open Market Committee meeting minutes that they are planning to raise interest rates as inflation picks up. “Participants generally agreed that
In what appears to be an effort to undermine the United States sanctions against Russia, China indicated to its state-owned Xinhua news agency that the government will agree during Russian President Putin’s May 20-21st visit to Shanghai to invest $18.46
In what appears to be an effort to undermine the United States sanctions against Russia, China indicated to its state-owned Xinhua news agency that it agreed during Russian President Putin’s May 20-21st visit to Shanghai to invest $18.46 billion in
Despite the fact that every single part of California is currently facing severe, extreme, or exceptional drought for the first time in 15 years, the UC Davis and ERA Economics research team estimated on May 19 that agricultural losses for California’s Central
The blow-back from Stanford University‘s May 6 decision to become the first major university endowment to divest of the stocks of coal-mining companies may hurt the general election prospects of Kentucky Democratic Senate hopeful Alison Lundergan Grimes, who has a one-point
Rebel forces led by General Khalifa Hafter attacked the Libyan parliament building in the capital city of Tripoli on May 18th, according to a Reuters interview of the general’s spokesman. Residents confirmed heavy gunfire from anti-aircraft weapons and rocket-propelled grenades near
The California economy got another punch in the nose as aerospace contractor Pratt & Whitneyannounced last week that their AeroPower facility in San Diego will relocate all remaining operations to existing facilities to Florida, Georgia, Texas and Canada. Last year, the company
The Chinese official Xinhua News Agency published an incendiary article this morning titled: “Geithner Charges White House With Telling Him To Lie, But Fallout Muted.” Over the last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping is reported to have fired 183,000 Communist
During the government shutdown last October, the main-stream-media railed against what they referred to as the draconian risks associated with the “Budget Sequester.” Despite the mass hysteria from the chattering classes and Goldman Sachs predicting 100,000 layoffs and the Congressional
