Be Nice, Murrieta. You Need Immigrants.

Why Is a City Made Prosperous By New Arrivals Turning Away Buses of Refugees?

To: The People of Murrieta, Calif.
From: Joe Mathews
Re: Recent Damage to Your Global Reputation

You can still be “The Future of Southern California,” as your city’s motto promises, but it won’t be easy after these past few weeks.

There’s no denying that Murrieta, incorporated in 1991, is one of the fastest-growing places in the state. Your population has quadrupled to more than 100,000 over the past quarter century. More than 30 percent of your residents are children. And you’ve embraced a successful growth strategy based on encouraging people around the …

by Joe Mathews | July 24, 2014

Yes, Airbnb Has a Dark Side

New ‘Sharing’ Companies Promise to Transform Everything From How We Vacation to Who Does Our Laundry. They Could Also Turn California Into a Battleground.

by Joe Mathews | June 26, 2014

I have learned the hard way, as father to three small boys, that sharing causes conflict. Ask humans to play with the same toy at the same time, and it …

The Golden State Is Now the Gritty State

California Used to Be About Glamour—Today It’s About Toughness

by Joe Mathews | June 19, 2014

California’s reputation as a supremely glamorous and wealthy place was once so entrenched that even its sports teams had to live up to the image. The “Showtime” Lakers of the …

Is Texas Becoming a California Colony?

Don’t Stress on the Flow of Californians to Other States. We’re Simply Remaking Them in Our Image.

by Joe Mathews | May 29, 2014

I pulled my rental car over to a curb in Plano, Texas, next to the site of Toyota’s future North American headquarters, to be staffed by thousands of workers transplanted …

Go Ahead, Texas: Just Try to Recruit This Californian

Interstate Competition Is Fierce. But Texas Didn’t Win Toyota For the Reasons You Think.

by Joe Mathews | May 22, 2014

I forgive you, Toyota.

I now know firsthand what it’s like to be recruited to the suburbs of north Dallas, the region that just stole away Toyota’s North American headquarters, and …

Why the State General Fund Is Mad at You

California’s Fiscal Backstop Breaks Its Silence to Lash Out at Special and Rainy Day Funds, Reforms, and Reports of Its Own Volatility

by Joe Mathews | May 8, 2014

It’s time for you to stop picking on me, California.

For most of the past dozen years, I was badly in deficit. I heard all the talk—about how my shortfalls were …

California economy