Emily Makings

The EPA's mine restrictions are of a piece with Washington's expanded SEPA

The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed last week about the EPA and mine permitting. Daniel McGroarty of the American Resources Policy Network writes, The Environmental Protection Agency last week put forth new restrictions that would essentially block the Pebble Mine, a proposed multi-metal project in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska. For months […]

Workers earn more at larger retailers

A new NBER working paper finds that “the growth in modern retail, characterized by larger chains of larger establishments with more levels of hierarchy, is raising wage rates relative to traditional mom-and-pop retail stores.” According to the paper, not only do “Wage rates in the retail sector rise markedly with firm size and with establishment […]

Cost effective education spending includes charters

How is education like baseball? When money is no object, cost effectiveness is less important. Patrick Wolf of the University of Arkansas links education and Moneyball in a post for EducationNext: The cost of public education is largely ignored by both the media and education policymakers. Many people think it is awkward, complicated or destroys […]

The "shortsightedness" of "pay it forward" college financing

Via the University of Washington’s Office of Planning and Budgeting blog, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) has a new report on the “pay it forward” (PIF) higher education funding idea that has received a lot of play around the country recently. (Including in Washington, as a Washington Business Alliance blog post […]

Port of Seattle increases compensation for certain airport workers

In 2013, SeaTac approved a $15 minimum wage (and other employment policies) for certain hospitality, transportation, and airport workers. Subsequently, a King County Superior Court judge “ruled that the city of SeaTac does not have the authority to set workplace rules within Seattle-Tacoma International Airport because the aviation hub is owned by the Port of […]

Beer, marijuana, and Washington agriculture

Agriculture is an important part of Washington’s economy. A few recent stories highlight Washington’s role in the craft brewing and marijuana markets. From the Yakima Herald-Republic: Almost all 3,000 craft brewers in the nation now buy hops, the flowers that give beer its flavor, through long-term contracts to stabilize their prices and supply. Some are […]

Crude oil loading facilities and the price of gas

The debate in Washington over transporting oil by railroad could have big impacts on other states. In the course of writing about the expanded SEPA process last month, we mentioned the Tesoro Savage Petroleum proposed crude oil loading facility at the Port of Vancouver. A Reuters story today puts the delays in permitting for this […]

The sharing economy

In this week’s EconTalk podcast, host Russ Roberts talks to Mike Munger about the sharing economy (particularly companies like Uber and AirBnB). It’s very interesting. About the important issues, Munger says, One is that this is sort of subversive to past rent-seeking victories by licensing and other competition-restricting groups. It’s a way of taking advantage […]

Some businesses pay more than the minimum wage — should they all?

The New York Times has a story about a few fast food restaurants that pay their workers above the minimum wage. Higher compensation means these restaurants can better compete for the best workers: Scott Newman, the restaurant’s manager, said that Boloco’s above-average pay enabled him to pick from among many talented job applicants, adding, “When […]

Libraries and WiFi funding

PubliCola says that public libraries are “the latest battlefield between cities and suburbs.” According to the Washington Post, Through a public program known as E-Rate, Washington gives institutions a bit of money each year to defray the costs of buying Internet service and equipment. That initiative got a big boost recently, with the Federal Communications Commission announcing […]