Blogs
The Role of Impatience in Sustainable Growth
By Lee Endress, James Roumasset, and Christopher Wada Sustaining economic growth requires appropriate husbandry of our natural capital resources (e.g. fish, trees, freshwater, and coral). But how much conservation is optimal? According to proponents of “strong sustainability,” natural capital should never be depleted. This is inconsistent with maximizing economic welfare however. In less developed economies, […]
Read MoreUHERO 101.9: Who’s hiring? Who knows!
By Carl Bonham and James Jones Beginning in July 2013, the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) discontinued the regular monthly publication of industry payroll job counts for Kauai County, Maui County, and Hawaii County citing budgetary constraints. These statistics provided the most comprehensive and timely assessment of labor market conditions and served […]
Read MoreNow and Later: The Impact of the Government Shutdown
By Peter Fuleky There are about 34,000 civilian federal jobs in Hawaii, a fraction of which were deemed essential and have therefore not been furloughed. Many of the 18,000 Department of Defense employees were ordered back on the job after the first week of the shutdown, and they are expected to be paid on time. […]
Read MoreThe UHERO Dashboard Project Jobs Explorer: Occupations in Hawaii
The Hawaii Jobs Explorer, the first interactive tool to be released as a part of the ongoing UHERO Dashboard Project, is now available for public use. The Hawaii Jobs Explorer is a thorough examination of occupations and salaries in the state of Hawaii, presented in a visual, easy-to-navigate context. The data-rich design allows users to […]
Read MoreInvestigating the Effects of Furloughing Public School Teachers on Juvenile Crime in Hawaii
By Tim Halliday What happens to crime when 180,000 DOE students and all of their teachers are given the day off? When a fiscal crisis led to 17 “Furlough Fridays” during the 2009/2010 school year, we found ourselves in a unique position to find out. While it is tempting to imagine streets being flooded with […]
Read MoreHawaii’s Energy Future
By Makena Coffman Last week’s Asia Pacific Clean Energy Conference has focused the spotlight on Hawaii’s energy future. Governor Abercrombie opened the conference with a strong commitment to installing an undersea cable between Oahu and Maui. The Blue Planet foundation unveiled their “Energy Report Card” during a keynote address by Henk Rogers. Meanwhile, recent coverage […]
Read MoreDecline in Pacific Currencies: Crisis or More Adjustment to Come? : Pacific Beat Interview
By Sumner La Croix 1. The last few months have seen 10-20 percent declines in the exchange rates of many Pacific countries against the US dollar. The decline in the value of Indonesia’s currency has been particularly notable. Why is this happening? Each country has its own story, but the driving force behind the decline […]
Read MoreThe Unintended Consequences of Affordable Housing Policy
By Carl Bonham Honolulu City Council Resolution 13-168 would amend the percentages of affordable housing units that developers must provide to receive authorization for housing projects. Current city policy requires that 10% of a development’s units must be affordable for households earning no more than 80% of the HUD median income for Honolulu. Another 10% of units in […]
Read MoreRonald Coase, 1910-2013
By Jim Roumasset Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase passed away unexpectedly on September 2. Despite his age, Professor Coase was planning a trip to China, following up on his 2012 book, How China Became Capitalist. Coase gave a great interview in 2009 about his contributions regarding the market, the firm, and property rights. He modestly dismisses […]
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