Why Mexico Is California’s China

It’s Time to Start Thinking of Our Southern Neighbor as a Partner on the Rise

Don’t look now, Californians. Mexico is about to pass us.

Americans are intensely aware that China, with its rapid growth and expanding middle class, is likely to have a bigger economy than ours within a decade or two. But few Californians are aware that the growing Mexican economy, with its own expanding middle class, is likely to surpass our state’s economy.

The moment of Mexican triumph may come sooner than we think. If you consider California its own nation, it would have the ninth largest economy in the world. Mexico currently has …

Can California Go Rogue?

Why an Eclectic Fringe Festival in Fresno Is a Model for the State’s Future

Does California need to go Rogue?

I’m not talking about secession or flying Sarah Palin down from Alaska but about what may be the most important California arts event most Californians …

The Central Valley’s Still Got Game

The Heart of California Can Come Back If It Doesn’t Obsess on Who’s to Blame

In 2010, one year after the official end of the recession, I noted in an article for the UCLA Anderson Forecast that California’s inland counties had yet to see recovery. …

Three Words: Cal Poly Sacramento

Don’t Build a Money-Pit Arena For the Second-Rate Kings. Make an Investment That Will Transform (and Maybe Save) California’s Capital City.

We Californians need to help Sacramento.

Before you start hyperventilating, I’m not talking about our state government. I’m talking about the city and county, the capital region. With little notice or …

You’re a Hotel, California. So Act Like It.

If We Want a Thriving State, Then We Need To Lure In Visitors With Hospitality 101

“I hate the [expletive] Eagles,” declares Jeff Bridges as the stoner-turned-detective hero of The Big Lebowski, the classic Coen brothers film study of Los Angeles.

But even if you aren’t a …

Five Ways to Get a Job in California

It Isn’t Easy, But It’s Doable

We’ve reached a New Normal in California employment. It’s defined by three trends: intense competition for almost any job; the replacement of full time employment by gig work; and increasing …