Blogs
The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI): Watt, Me Worry?
The connection between the emerging field of sustainability science and the economics of sustainable development has motivated a line on interdisciplinary research inspired by the notion of “positive sustainability.” This notion is founded on three principles or pillars: (1) adopting a complex systems approach to modeling and analysis, integrating natural resource systems, the environment, and […]
Read MoreEconomists Debate How Quick to Cut
At the start of the first post-sequester week, economists at the annual policy conference of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in Washington D.C. debated options for U.S. fiscal policy. Two leading figures from the right and the left took starkly different views of where policy should head in the near term, but agreed on (at […]
Read MoreAirlines Bet Big On Hawaii With 275,000 Additional Seats
The latest infrastructure report from the Hawaii Tourism Authority suggests that airlines are betting big on Hawaii and increasing airlift to the state. HTA expects the number of seats on direct flights to Hawaii will exceed 2.6 M for the three month period between February and April 2013. This is an increase of more than 11% from […]
Read MoreShould we increase Hawaii’s minimum wage?
The following post is excerpted from UHERO’s Brief “Should we increase Hawaii’s minimum wage?” Raising the minimum wage may be one of the hottest issues of this years’ legislative session. Two bills have been introduced to increase the minimum wage and both bills also propose indexing the minimum wage so that it is adjusted for future inflation. President […]
Read MoreThe Weakening Japanese Yen
Over the past three months the Japanese Yen has depreciated significantly against the US Dollar and other major currencies as policy makers in Tokyo try to kick start the Japanese economy. The Yen initially began to slide on speculation that newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would successfully pressure the Bank of Japan to ease […]
Read MoreUHERO Study Finds That PV Systems Have a Positive Rate of Return of 14% For Households, But Could Cost the State Up To $1.4B in Residential Tax Credits
Solar photovoltaic (PV) tax credits are at the center of a public debate in Hawai’i. In their policy brief “Tax Credit Incentives for Residential Solar Photovoltaic in Hawai’i” UHERO’s Makena Coffman, Carl Bonham, Sherilyn Wee and Germaine Salim find that the typical residential solar PV investment has an internal rate of return of 9% even without […]
Read MoreQ & A Summary: The Impact of Marriage Equality on Hawai′i’s Economy and Government
The legislature is currently proposing bills to extend the legal definition of marriage to include same sex couples, and, and to grant those couples the same rights and benefits of marriage that opposite sex couples currently receive. Sumner La Croix and Lauren Gabriel’s paper, “The Impact of Marriage Equality on Hawai’i’s Economy and Government” examines the potential […]
Read MoreFinancing Watershed Conservation without Shrinking the Economy
In his recent State-of-the-State address, Governor Abercrombie urged lawmakers to consider either an increase in the conveyance tax on high-priced real estate transactions or a 10-cent fee for single-use plastic checkout bags to finance his watershed protection initiative, “The Rain Follows the Forest,” The proposed taxes, however, have a downside. While they are expected to […]
Read MoreRecord Breaking 2012 Visitor Arrivals Aided by Growth from East Asia and Oceania
The Hawaii Tourism Authority recently released preliminary figures for December marking the first time we have complete data for 2012, a year that was already shaping up to be a strong year for the visitor industry. In fact, it was record breaking. More than 7.8 million visitors arrived by air in 2012, up 9.2% from […]
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