Blogs
Raising Property Taxes to Improve Public Schools
By James Mak and Carl Bonham Hawaii’s public school teachers’ union (HSTA) is back at the State Legislature this session to ask lawmakers to help find more money to pay teachers and other education expenses. HSTA was at the Legislature last year to lobby for a 1% increase in the State’s 4% general excise and use […]
Read MoreHow Many Tourists is Too Many?
By James Mak Honolulu Star Advertiser columnist, Lee Cataluna, recently asked: “How many tourists is too many tourists?” 1 Apparently, she already knew the answer. To her, the 8.5 million plus tourists coming to Hawaii each year is way too many. She laments that nobody seems to be talking about limiting the number “…like maybe […]
Read MoreRegulating Home-Share Rentals in Hawaii
By James Mak Last year nearly one in three U.S. travelers stayed in home-based accommodation units compared to one in ten in 2011. 1 A search by the New Orleans Planning Commission found more than 40 websites that facilitate short-term rentals ranging from single rooms in private homes to entire villas. 2 The most conspicuous […]
Read MoreWhat will we get with Trump?
By Byron Gangnes The unexpected election of Donald Trump has thrown a monkey wrench into forecasting the US and global economy. During the Presidential race, candidate Trump promised an array of dramatic policy changes, many of which could have dramatic economic impacts. The question now is which policies President Trump will in fact advance, which […]
Read MoreRevisiting the Energy Paradox: Do Quantity and Price of Energy Efficient Appliances Respond to Changes in Energy Prices and Interest Rates?
The WEER Student Blog Series features student reviews of presentations from UHERO’s Workshop on Energy and Environmental Policy Abstract: The notion of an energy efficiency gap posits that people under-invest in energy efficiency, since the present value of savings from more energy-efficient appliances, cars and other energy-consuming durable goods tends to far exceed their additional up-front cost. A […]
Read MoreCan Cheap Oil Hurt Net Importers? Evidence from the Philippine Economy
The WEER Student Blog Series features student reviews of presentations from UHERO’s Workshop on Energy and Environmental Policy Abstract: Conventional wisdom suggests that oil price increases have a negative effect on the output of oil-importing countries. This is grounded in the experience of the US between 1940s and late 1980s where recessions are generally preceded […]
Read MoreInforming Water Policy in Hawaii with Transformative Interdisciplinary Research: UHERO’s Role in ʻIke Wai
By Kimberly Burnett and Christopher Wada UHERO’s Project Environment will be leading the economic analysis for a new National Science Foundation project addressing critical gaps in the understanding of Hawaii’s fresh water supply that limit decision making, planning and crisis responses. ‘Ike Wai (from the Hawaiian ‘ike, (knowledge), and wai, (water) spans geophysics, microbiology, cyberinfrastructure, […]
Read MoreHawaii Innovation Matters
By Carl Bonham Innovation is the key to economic growth and prosperity. In the US, innovation-led productivity growth accounts for roughly half of all the increase in US GDP. And despite our increasingly connected global economy, innovation occurs at the regional level. While there is no shortage of reports that provide snapshots of Hawaii’s innovation […]
Read MoreWhat a Difference a Rate Makes
By Michael Roberts UHERO’s Energy Planning and Policy Group has been writing about how variable pricing of electricity, both wholesale and retail, can lower the cost of intermittent renewables. Get the rates right, and facilitate easy open-access to the grid for both buyers and sellers, and amazing things can happen. The idea is that variable […]
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