Blogs

Affordably Improving Texas Power Grid Resilience

Hope you emerged from this crazy winter storm + power/water outage week relatively unscathed. I certainly learned the value of stockpiling water and draining water pipes (esp. with a power outage), and ERCOT learned that it's a bad idea to cut off power to natural gas pumps across the state during a winter storm.  read more »

Australia: Detached Home Building Record Predicted

Housing Industry Organization Chief Economist Tim Reardon has predicted that detached housing production will set an all time record in 2021 in Australia.  read more »

Feudal Future Podcast — The Passing of a Party? The Future of the GOP

On today's episode of Feudal Future hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Charles Blain, Brian Calle, and Cullum Clark to discuss the future of the GOP.  read more »

Bulletin: China Leads US in Air Passengers for the First Time

A Thursday morning (February 11, 2021) announcement from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (USDOT) shows that US air passenger volumes have fallen behind China for the first time. This is also the first time that the US has not been the world leader, based on available data.  read more »

The Collapse of California

If one were to explore the most blessed places on earth, California, my home for a half century, would surely be up there. The state, with its salubrious climate, spectacular scenery, vast natural resources, and entrepreneurial heritage is home to the world’s fifth-largest economy and its still-dominant technological centre.  read more »

Springsteen's Right: Unity Can Only Begin in the Middle

Bruce Springsteen’s name may be on the marquee of the Jeep Super Bowl ad featuring The Boss, which is titled “The Middle.” But Lebanon, Kansas -- the real middle -- is the star.  read more »

Subjects:

Super Bowl Sunday is Flyover Affair — Down to the Ads

This year, the Big Game is about Flyover Country more than ever. Two of our teams are battling it out.  read more »

Feudal Future Podcast — A Test of Strength: Pandemics Through the Eye of Religion, with Rev. John L. McCullough

On this episode of Feudal Future, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Rev. John L. McCullough, President Emeritus of Church World Service. CWS is a global ecumenical organization specializing in Development and Humanitarian Assistance, Immigration and Refugee Services, Justice and Human Rights.  read more »

Ask the Experts: Revitalizing California's Business Climate

Chapman University’s Vice President of Research Thomas Piechota hosted this month's event, moderated by Dean Thomas Turk of the Argyros School of Business and Economics. Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and Marshall Toplansky, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Science at Chapman University joined the discussion.  read more »

Feudal Future Podcast — The Clash: the Power Divide Between the Working Class & the Managerial Elite

On this episode of Feudal Future, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Michael Lind. Michael Lind is a professor of practice at the LBJ School.  read more »