Carl Bonham

Some thoughts on property taxes and school funding

October 19, 2018

By Carl Bonham and James Mak Voters will soon be weighing in on a possible amendment to Hawaii’s constitution. The ballot question is, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?” 1 Unfortunately, this language provides no definition of […]

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Forecasting in a Mixed Up World: Nowcasting Hawaii Tourism

March 1, 2017

We evaluate the short term forecasting performance of methods that systematically incorporate high frequency information via covariates. Our study provides a thorough introduction of these methods to the tourism literature. We highlight the distinguishing features and limitations of each tool and evaluate their forecasting performance in two tourism-specific applications. The first uses monthly indicators to […]

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Raising Property Taxes to Improve Public Schools

February 3, 2017

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 […]

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UHERO wins 2016 Polzin Prize for Best Paper at AUBER Fall Conference

November 20, 2016

UHERO is proud to announce that  “Forecasting in a Mixed Up World: Nowcasting Hawaii Tourism” by Ashley Hirashima, James Jones, Carl Bonham and Peter Fuleky was awarded the Polzin Prize for Best Paper at the 2016 AUBER fall conference! We evaluate the short term forecasting performance of methods that systematically incorporate high frequency information via covariates. Our […]

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Hawaii Innovation Matters

May 9, 2016

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 […]

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Research Driven Energy Policy

November 5, 2015

By Carl Bonham, Makena Coffman, and Michael Roberts Hawaii is in the midst of transforming its electricity system into one with a lot more renewable energy. It’s an exciting time, but also a challenging one that is forcing the State to make tough decisions amid many uncertainties. There appears to be confusion about who bears […]

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Dropping Oil Prices Boost Hawaii’s Economy

January 15, 2015

By Carl Bonham The drop in crude oil prices from $112/ barrel in June of 2014 to $46/barrel today will, if sustained, provide a nice boost to Hawaii’s economy. Beyond the gains that Hawaii’s tourism industry will see from lower energy costs, there is a direct effect on local households, businesses and government that is […]

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The Growing Importance of Tourism in the Global Economy and International Affairs

July 28, 2014

For tourism-dependent countries and destinations, tourism’s share of GDP can exceed twice the world average. Today, international tourism receipts exceed $1 billion per year in some 90 nations. Worldwide, domestic tourism is typically several times larger. Tourism truly has become a global economic and social force. Full Published Article: https://www.georgetownjournalofinternationalaffairs.org/online-edition/the-growing-importance-of-tourism-in-the-global-economy-and-international-affairs

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Hawaii’s Minimum Wage, Poverty, and Job Creation

February 3, 2014

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 […]

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