Today California's High-Speed Rail boondoggle is at least 50 percent over budget and, if ever built as marketed, likely far more, and doesn't have "matching private and federal funding" as promised.
Rather than pay 50% more for labor that isn’t 50% more productive, business owners are likely to instead hire more part time workers or ask more productive—and higher paid workers—to fill the gap.
But by 2014, Texas consumers were paying 14 percent less for their electricity, on average, than the rest of the nation. Market deregulation was a success.
America's ongoing turmoil is partly fueled by the growing distrust between the cloistered elites and the rest of the nation.
Texas was tied for 13th place with Alaska, with 64 percent of Texans trusting in their state government.
Hiking the minimum wage in the center of the high-tech universe will inevitably accelerate the drive to convert low-skill service jobs to robots. After all, machines don't call in sick, get stuck in California's notorious traffic, get injured and go on workers' comp, sue their employers or strike.
But, as with most government actions, there will be unintended consequences — the government drive for 'balance' will, as Friedrich Hayek warned, lead to more imbalance, which will invariably lead to cries for greater government intervention.
Since new teachers’ pay is tied to double the minimum wage, a 50 percent increase in the minimum wage will trigger demands for proportional wage increases on up the pay scale. California teachers earn an average of $71,396, not including generous retirement benefits.
Increased costs for electricity will have a ripple effect on manufacturing jobs as well as the standard of living of working Americans who will pay more for their electricity.
Many Americans will pay 30 percent or more for their electricity and barely notice the difference, but for millions more, such as the members of the Navajo Nation, the Clean Power Plan will have farther-reaching effects, destroying jobs and harming families.
The EPA’s Clean Power Plan has been delayed by the U.S. Supreme Court. But, if the courts allow it to proceed, it will result in higher electricity costs, lost jobs, and a lower standard of living.
The industry is responsible for more than 2,500 of the highest-paying jobs in the Navajo Nation. These revenues represent the Navajo Nation’s ability to act as a sovereign nation.