Here are some highlights.
By Fiona Harrigan, ReasonJune 24, 2024.
Extract:
As the population and economic slowdown hit In many parts of the American heartland, some political analysts and elected officials have begun to set their sights on support Authorities have launched an initiative to create local visas that would help attract highly skilled immigrants to declining or stagnant regions. The idea was approved again over the weekend.
The United States Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization of mayors and other elected officials representing cities with populations of 30,000 or more,called federal lawmakers to establish a “heartland visa” that would bring highly skilled immigrants and immigrant entrepreneurs to communities facing demographic and economic decline.
by Josh Blackman, Reason, June 28, 2024.
Extract:
It’s a difficult task! The standards it sets are so byzantine that it is unlikely anyone can meet them. And maybe that’s the problem. Justice Barrett, more than anyone on the Court, plays the role of gatekeeper. It is extremely stingy when it comes to granting certificates. It denies all emergency motions on the shadow docket (unless they come from the Fifth Circuit). She no longer believes in the certificate before judgment. And it requires lawyers to establish standing with a degree of certainty I’ve never seen before. Critics often accuse the Roberts Court of closing the courthouse doors. Judge Barrett is the embodiment of this theme.
And:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Judge Barrett has had virtually no practice in the private sector. During her student years, she did not participate in any litigation. And she served very briefly on the Court of Appeal. She simply does not have the experience of an attorney who has attempted to obtain expedited relief in a complex case with a rapidly evolving timeline. When she asserts that sophisticated litigants have failed to discharge an obligation that is not clearly established in case law, introspection suggests that this obligation is not really present. I have the impression that Justice Barrett grades the briefs the way she would grade a seminar presentation – or worse, the way she would give her opinion at an academic workshop. She has extremely high expectations which are based on her subjective sense of which matters belong in the federal courts and which do not.
Note from HR: The way I expressed Josh’s point of view when explaining it to someone at pickleball yesterday is: “She seems to be grading students’ papers and insisting that they get an A+ .”
by Ryan Bourne, AIERJune 28, 2024.
To Americans who only pay attention to British politics, the recent televised debate between Labour leader Keir Starmer and Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak might have seemed familiar. That’s because the Conservative leader’s campaign pitch on the economy could easily have come from a Reaganite Republican. “Vote Labour and your family’s taxes will go up dramatically,” was Sunak’s paraphrased message. “Not only that, but your fuel bills will go up as Labour implements needlessly rapid plans to decarbonize the economy.” Here Sunak sounded like Grover Norquist, warning that Britain’s progressive left would raise taxes on citizens and step up costly environmental regulations.
To which a Briton would respond: “What a sledgehammer!” » Yes, Labor will surely tax more, spend more and regulate more than the Conservatives. But Sunak’s government is no stranger to expanding the state’s footprint and aggressively raising taxes. Indeed, under Sunak’s chancellorship-turned-prime minister, the UK’s total tax burden has increased by 3.4% of GDP since 2019, reaching its highest level since post-World War II. The Prime Minister has frozen income tax thresholds amid high inflation to make the biggest stealth tax rise in British history. All this to finance a state which has already reached more than 40% of GDP – its highest level since the start of the Thatcher revolution – with the Conservatives pushing for new regulators for digital markets and football, their own goal of net zero emissions, new state takeover of young childcare and plans to (eventually) ban smoking altogether.
HR note:
I noted to Ryan, while reading this article, that I particularly liked the fact that he expressed tax increases as a percentage of GDP; It’s a good dose of numeracy. He replied that it is more common in Britain than in the United States.
I also just noticed that Ryan expressed it in terms of tax burden, which isn’t entirely accurate. The tax burden includes the deadweight loss due to taxes, which at this level of taxation would be quite high since the deadweight loss due to a tax is proportional to the tax burden. square of the tax rate. A correct statement would be that the tax income grew by 3.4 percent of GDP.
by Heather Haddon, the wall street journalJune 17, 2024.
Monique Pizano spent three years as chief executive and her six-figure income helped her save for a house down payment, honeymoon in Japan and support her mother.
The 27-year-old from Ontario, California, feels lucky: Many of her fellow UC Riverside graduates have been unable to find jobs or have low hourly wages.
Pizano is one of about 850 general managers at Raising Cane’s, where her salary can be as high as $174,000 a year, including bonuses based on her store’s sales and profits. The fast-growing chicken chain views its executives as essential partners, and the Baton Rouge, La.-based company pays them to be perfectionists.
I found this article, unfortunately closed, very inspiring.
Note that there are some regulations here:
The requirement that fast-food chains increase their managers’ pay has received less attention. Large fast food chains are required to pay their salaried managers at least $83,200 to comply with California rules, up from $66,560. Otherwise, operators must pay their managers hourly, plus overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.
But obviously, in the case of Monique Pisano, this regulation is not binding.
By the way, Heather Haddon is becoming one of my favorite WSJ labor market reporters: she calls the balls and hits fair, something WSJ reporters don’t always do.
