Prohibition was a huge success. No, it didn't achieve any ofits goals, or make the country a more moral place. It was a huge success for AlCapone, and other gangsters. For theaverage American, it was a waste of time and money. Prohibition did not make it impossible todrink, just much more expensive. A higherprice of alcohol was caused by a built in "risk premium" on the supply side. Higher prices were exploited by Capone andothers to make money hand over fist in a time of hardship. Thetemperan...

Why would anyone actually want to be the next governor of California? Itis probably one of the toughest in jobs in the nation. The nextgovernor will find him or herself neck deep in a fiscal quagmire, acrippling drought, and a worsening recession. Put together, it is asituation worse than the one that led to Gray Davis' recall. Whilelegislators have hammered out a budget and at least for now stavedoff insolvency, our fiscal problems are not over. The Golden Statehas a deep structural deficit, ...

California's fiscal future lookspositively dire.  The budget deficit isexpected to soar to more than 40 billion (more than 1,000 per resident) overthe next year. It is the perfect stormof falling tax revenues caused by the popping of the equity and real estatebubbles, and soaring unemployment claims. But the Legislature and the governor are not the only ones to blame;just look at the results of the last election. Voter ignorance is in large part to blame as well. Admittedly, the state fiscal c...

The Golden State is at the leading edge of the most recent recession.  The national unemployment has risen to at least 7.2 percent, and the rate is much higher (8.4 percent) here in California.  Unfortunately, things will continue to get worse before they get worse before they get better. California’s unemployment rate is almost sure to hit double digits some time in 2009.  State budgets have been terribly strained by the ongoing financial crisis and recession. The combination of falling real e...