How California Created a Road Map for America’s Interstate System

Backed by Gov. Earl Warren, the Collier-Burns Gas Tax Became a Model for Funding Freeways

In June, Californians should be marking the 70th anniversary of the Collier-Burns Act. But you probably have never heard of it, even though Collier-Burns likely has an everyday impact on your life.

The Collier-Burns Act of 1947 created the California freeway system by substantially raising the gasoline and other motor vehicle taxes and earmarking the resulting revenues for highway construction. If you drive on freeways, you are utilizing a legacy of Collier-Burns.

State Senator Randolph Collier and Assemblyman Michael Burns both played a part in enacting the law and received …

By Daniel J.B. Mitchell | May 9, 2017

Too Many Airline Passengers and Too Few Seats? Let’s Start the Bidding!

After That Infamous Video, Carriers Should Start Auctioning Spaces on Overbooked Flights

By Christopher Tang | May 8, 2017

Last month, consumers around the world were disturbed by video showing a passenger being dragged off United Flight 3411 by at least three security guards.

I don’t need to add …

How the Internet and E-Commerce Are Hacking Protectionism

What the U.S. Can Do to Help Small Online Entrepreneurs Tap the Global Marketplace

By Kati Suominen | April 26, 2017

Consider two distinct worlds only a few miles from each other. One world is that of Jennifer and Nicole, recently featured in The New York Times, who have worked all their lives …

If You Want Strawberry Fields Forever, You Need Migrant Labor

A Year-Round Supply of Low-Priced Food Demands Seasonal Workers Free to Cross Borders

By Jerry Nickelsburg | April 26, 2017

Two hundred years ago this year, British economist David Ricardo published his monumental work “On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.” In it he outlined a theory of international …

Are Trade Shocks to Blame for Our Extremist Politics?

Researchers Hunt for the Missing Link Between Import Imbalances and Populist Anger

By Christian Dippel, Robert Gold, Stephan Heblich, and Rodrigo Pinto | April 26, 2017

Does economic competition from low-wage manufacturing countries like China make politics in Western countries more polarized?

The short answer is yes. The harder, unanswered question is: How, exactly?

A body of research …

In the New Global Trade Map, China Commands the Center

Asia's Ascendancy Will Test Western Democracies, as It Reshuffles Winners and Losers

By Javier Díaz-Giménez | April 26, 2017

Most maps you see in this country put the Atlantic Ocean at their center, with North America and Europe just off center stage. Asia is on a periphery.

My favorite map …

UCLA Anderson