Blogs
Hawai‘i’s Environmental Response, Energy, and Food Security Tax (aka Barrel Tax)
By Sherilyn Wee and Makena Coffman The one-dollar increase in Hawai‘i’s environmental tax from five-cents since its inception in 1993 to $1.05 effective July 1, 2010 was a stepping stone in Hawai‘i’s clean energy progress. While in theory it serves to discourage fossil fuels (internalizing the negative externality), its major impact has been as a […]
Read MoreIs inequality actually lower in Honolulu?
By Jonathan Page and Tim Halliday The outlook for inequality and poverty in Honolulu is not as rosy as it might seem at first glance. On the 50th anniversary of the ‘War on Poverty’, poverty and income inequality are major policy issues facing President Obama’s administration and driving public policy analysis and debate. The Business […]
Read MoreHawaii’s Minimum Wage, Poverty, and Job Creation
By Carl Bonham Ten different bills have been introduced at the legislature this session to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage. According to proponents, raising Hawaii’s minimum wage is necessary to help the working poor whose buying power has diminished. In the past, UHERO briefs and blog posts have argued that the minimum wage is not an efficient […]
Read MoreIn Search of the Glass Ceiling: Deciphering Data on Gender and Wages
By Inna Cintina and Natalie Schack The gender pay gap gets a lot of attention, but what can we learn about it by looking at the wage data? The Hawaii Equal Pay Dashboard compares female salaries to male salaries over time. It breaks up the workforce into a few dozen occupation groups, and uses American […]
Read MoreAre Recessions Bad for Your Health?
By Tim Halliday Our work indicates that a bad economy can kill you. Specifically, we show that over the ten years from 1984 to 1993 that a one-percentage point rise in the unemployment rate increased the risk of dying within the subsequent year by 6% for working-aged men. This translates to roughly 24 more deaths […]
Read MoreUHERO 101.11: Hawaii Health Insurance Premiums, Oligopolies, and the Affordable Care Act
By Inna Cintina Earlier this year the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (FDHHS) issued a summary report on the health plan choices and premiumsacross the country that will be available in the Health Insurance Marketplace. This report focuses on assessment of the plans with the lowest premiums in each state, as those are […]
Read MoreLignocellulosic Ethanol – Are We There Yet?
By Junko Mochizuki and Makena Coffman Lignocellulosic ethanol has been touted as a cleaner, next generation alternative fuel. Turning abundant resources like grasses into a transportation fuel sounds like a good idea. But, is this a viable option in Hawaii? What’s the state of technology now? What would it cost to produce it locally? Will […]
Read MoreUHERO 101.10: The Confusing World of PV
By Sherilyn Wee and Makena Coffman This UHERO 101 intends to clarify some of the rate and policy aspects of PV in Hawai‘i, and explores the two opposite driving forces of PV adoption. PV is an attractive investment in Hawai‘i where electricity rates are almost four times the national average. Rising electricity prices and falling system costs […]
Read MoreCatch Shares and Implications for Hawai’i’s Fishing Industry
By John Lynham and Chaning Jang* In light of declining global fish stocks, an immediate and important concern becomes the management of our fishery resources, both to protect the delicate ecosystems that they are a part of, and to ensure their viability as an economic and food resource for generations. A controversial new method to […]
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