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A quarterly magazine of urban affairs, published by the Manhattan Institute, edited by Brian C. Anderson.

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Larry Sand Blue vs. Blue California’s powerful teachers’ union condemns Democratic reformers. 16 May 2013
Ben Boychuk Jury Tampering Ill-conceived California legislation would let noncitizens serve on juries. 10 May 2013
Steven F. Hayward The Climate’s Right for Whining California’s wine scare isn’t the first and won’t be the last. 2 May 2013
Steven Greenhut Unions vs. Home Rule A state senate bill would undermine some California cities’ independence. 25 April 2013
Bill Watkins A “Comeback” in Name Only The New York Times sees fit to print only good news about California. 10 April 2013
Steven Greenhut Deadbeat City Unions win, bondholders lose in round one of Stockton’s bankruptcy trial. 5 April 2013
Tim Cavanaugh Presumption of Ignorance The Bell corruption verdicts expose small-minded politicians. 27 March 2013
Jeremy Rozansky Salvation Through Extinction Should San Bernardino cease to exist? 25 March 2013
Lloyd Billingsley Scam Cell California’s embryonic stem-cell research institute fails to deliver. 14 March 2013
Steven Greenhut CEQA’s Hopeful Sequel California’s oft-revised environmental law may finally be revamped with an eye toward job creation. 7 March 2013
Tim Cavanaugh Can Kevin James Save Los Angeles? The mayoral long shot is the only candidate who understands how deep the city’s problems run. 4 March 2013
Pete Peterson What Brown Can Do for You California’s groundbreaking open-meeting law needs an update for changing times. 27 February 2013
Jack Dunphy Unfit for Duty Christopher Dorner was no “superhero,” and he’s certainly no martyr. 22 February 2013
Ben Boychuk A Mighty Wind As Texas appeals to California’s businesses, Golden State boosters can only make flatulence jokes. 19 February 2013
Heather Mac Donald Crazy to Everyone but the New York Times The paper bends over backward to find justification for Christopher Dorner’s murderous rampage. 12 February 2013
Steven Greenhut Tapping Eminent Domain A Southern California city’s scheme to seize a water company is all wet. 7 February 2013
Tom Gray Beware the Mickelson Effect California’s projected tax revenue may not live up to its promise. 28 January 2013
Richard Rider Taking One for the Team Phil Mickelson points the way for rich folks: get out of California, quietly. 25 January 2013
Tim Cavanaugh Ending California’s Numbers Game New rules and more audits should make the pension crisis harder to hide. 22 January 2013
Lloyd Billingsley Maybe Money Does Grow on Trees Hidden funds and a failure of oversight in one-party California 18 January 2013
Jack Dunphy Oakland Cop-Out A federal judge is poised to make one of the most dangerous cities in America even worse. 15 January 2013
Larry Sand Silencing the Whistleblower A California principal pays a hefty price for protecting her teachers and students. 11 January 2013
Steven Greenhut Stockton’s Moral Deficit A creditor argues that the California city’s bankruptcy is a sham. 3 January 2013
 
Larry Sand No Guns in School? Armed guards have long been the norm on California campuses. 28 December 2012
Steven Greenhut Inflate the Legislature A California venture capitalist’s plan for reforming an out-of-touch government 21 December 2012
Chris Reed The Real Fairy Tale California’s second-largest teachers’ union as champion of “social justice” 13 December 2012
Troy Senik Food Fight California brings the nanny state to the kitchen table. 7 December 2012
Ashley Trim Smart Meters vs. Social Capital When efficiency clashes with community 5 December 2012
Tom Gray Can California Handle a Recovery? Interest-group politics could derail one before it really gets under way. 29 November 2012
Ed Ring Gross Understatements California’s new public-employee pay website obscures more than it reveals. 27 November 2012
Steven Greenhut Jerry Brown’s Accidental Legacy Redevelopment in California remains dead—at least for now. 20 November 2012
Chris Reed San Diego’s Union War City workers and taxpayers face off over pension and budget reforms. 14 November 2012
Troy Senik Reform Denied On election night, Californians stand by high taxes and untrammeled union power. 7 November 2012
Lloyd Billingsley Father Brown California’s governor becomes an evangelist for high taxes. 5 November 2012
Charles C. Johnson Extracurricular Activities California State University administrators campaign for a tax hike. 1 November 2012
Troy Senik The Tax That Dare Not Speak Its Name California’s Proposition 39 takes aim at out-of-state businesses. 25 October 2012
Jeremy Rozansky What Austerity Looks Like Bankrupt San Bernardino’s new, skeletal government 22 October 2012
Michael Anton Trojan Horse Initiative How Proposition 31 imperils life as Californians know it 17 October 2012
Lloyd Billingsley Partial Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger omits a few facts from his new book. 11 October 2012
Steven Greenhut A Yes Man Says No Jerry Brown angers his labor-union friends with some expedient vetoes. 5 October 2012
Troy Senik Don’t Judge a Food by Its Label A California ballot measure targets genetically modified foods. 2 October 2012
Larry Sand Paycheck Protection Redux Unions line up against an initiative that would end payroll deductions for politics. 28 September 2012
Heather Mac Donald Diversity Forever The University of California backs a tax hike to support its ever-expanding bureaucracy. 20 September 2012
Charles C. Johnson Keep on Truckin’ California’s mobile-food entrepreneurs struggle with fame and regulation. 18 September 2012
Ze’ev Wurman, Bill Evers Out of the Equation California courts educational failure if it does away with eighth-grade algebra. 14 September 2012
Steven Greenhut They Can’t Be Serious Jerry Brown and Sacramento Democrats push Potemkin pension reform in exchange for higher taxes. 5 September 2012
Troy Senik Parks and Obfuscation A cash-strapped California agency “misplaces” tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. 29 August 2012
Steven Greenhut Negating the Vote Public-employee unions try again to shoot down pension reform. 24 August 2012
Jeremy Rozansky The Problem and Promise of Charter Cities What bankrupt San Bernardino, Stockton, and Vallejo have in common 17 August 2012
Steven Greenhut Pension Envy A glimpse into the public-union mind-set 7 August 2012
Troy Senik Gastronomical Prohibitionists A ban on foie gras sparks a backlash against big government in California. 1 August 2012
David B. Frisk Unsecure Communities The folly of California’s “anti-Arizona” immigration bill 26 July 2012
Jeremy Rozansky San Bernardino’s Route to Bankruptcy A long trip, perhaps, but the signposts were visible for years. 18 July 2012
Larry Sand Perverting Justice The teachers’ union kills a Democratic bill to remove criminals from California’s classrooms. 16 July 2012
Chris Reed Off the Rails How union power plays could crash spectacularly in California 10 July 2012
Steven Greenhut Misunderstanding Stockton The bankrupt city isn’t merely a victim of circumstance. 3 July 2012
Lloyd Billingsley Legacy of Zealotry An undeserved posthumous honor for the founder of the California Coastal Commission 28 June 2012
Ben Boychuk “Irrational Outcomes” in California The state’s new budget may be on time, but it relies yet again on phony revenue assumptions. 19 June 2012
Steven Greenhut Now, the Union Pushback Following big victories for public-pension reform in California, the union empire takes to the courts. 12 June 2012
John J. Pitney, Jr. Top-Two Blues California’s elusive quest for “moderate candidates” and other reform follies 8 June 2012
Larry Sand Students vs. Status Quo California lawsuits target teachers’ union work rules. 6 June 2012
Steven Greenhut A Progressive’s Progress San Jose mayor Chuck Reed shows how Democrats can take the lead on public-pension reform. 30 May 2012
Charles C. Johnson Lessons from Claremont, Part 2 Did racial preferences play a part in the college’s fabrications? 24 May 2012
Steven Greenhut More Gimmicks, Less Honesty California continues to play budget games. 17 May 2012
Tom Gray Never Trust a Hungry Legislature California’s assembly speaker tries to squeeze more taxes from beleaguered businesses. 11 May 2012
Larry Sand Escaping Failure California’s Open Enrollment Act threatens the status quo—and that’s why it’s under assault. 8 May 2012
Pete Peterson, Kevin Klowden Immersion Education for Parents Volunteers at Culver City schools face off against union demands that they pay dues. 4 May 2012
Joe R. Hicks What Hasn’t Changed Twenty years later, we’ve seen lots of racial progress, but the inflammatory racial rhetoric often remains the same. 27 April 2012
Heather Mac Donald What We Should Have Learned Police must put down violence immediately and without apology. 27 April 2012
Charles C. Johnson Lessons of Sa-i-gu How Koreans still wrestle with the aftermath of the L.A. riots. 27 April 2012
Chris Reed Public Enemy Number One San Diego’s Carl DeMaio puts pension reform center stage—and himself in union crosshairs. 19 April 2012
Steven Greenhut Reform by Any Other Name Call it “modification” if you prefer—but San Jose’s pension initiative will be a national bellwether. 17 April 2012
Tom Gray Yes, Los Angeles Is Going Broke Richard Riordan was right—and it’s about time Mayor Villaraigosa admitted it. 12 April 2012
Troy Senik California’s Unteachable Union The CTA backs a tax increase that would worsen the state’s economic travails. 10 April 2012
Ben Boychuk Guns and Roses Jerry Brown’s high-stakes tax proposal faces a political challenge—from the Left. 5 April 2012
Lloyd Billingsley The DREAM and the Nightmare In California, students are better off being illegal immigrants than legal. 30 March 2012
Chris Reed Solyndra Times Seven Why California’s high-speed rail project is an even greater waste of federal tax dollars. 21 March 2012
Larry Sand California’s Endangered Charter Schools The state’s powerful teachers’ unions want to regulate charters into submission. 13 March 2012
Steven Greenhut Broken Windows, Broken City Stockton faces pending insolvency and an unraveling social fabric. 6 March 2012
Troy Senik First, Do Less Harm Californians weigh the virtues of a part-time legislature. 2 March 2012
Steven Greenhut San Jose and the Elephant in the Room Unlike California’s state government, the city understands the need for pension reform. 24 February 2012
Brian Calle What North Dakota Knows that California Doesn’t The real boom is in traditional energy, not “green jobs.” 23 February 2012
John-Clark Levin, Charles C. Johnson Lessons from Claremont What the college’s SAT scandal tells us about oversight and accountability 15 February 2012
Troy Senik Visionaries on Demand California’s self-appointed philosopher-kings try to “think long.” 1 February 2012
Troy Senik Highway 60 Revisited Why does it take an emergency to get roads built quickly in California? 27 January 2012
Larry Sand Golden Missed Opportunity School choice is on the move everywhere—except California. 24 January 2012
Larry Sand A 40-Year Shame A lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified School District could shake up how California evaluates teachers. 19 January 2012
Pete Peterson On Further Review . . . Experts are taking a second look at California’s rail and climate-change programs. Will Jerry Brown? 13 January 2012
Stephen Schwartz Quan Agonistes Oakland’s mayor is in deep trouble of her own making. 11 January 2012
Steven Greenhut Crony Capitalism Rebuked California’s supreme court strikes a blow for property rights and fiscal sanity. 5 January 2012
 
Bruce Kesler Cal State’s Chutzpah A hypocritical university goes silent while a math professor spouts anti-Israeli politics. 29 December 2011
Joe R. Hicks Occupy L.A.’s Enablers Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council have much to answer for. 19 December 2011
Ashley Trim Civic California A new law could revitalize local governance in the Golden State. 13 December 2011
Brian Calle Premium Abuse Public pensions aren’t the only costs breaking the bank in California. 7 December 2011
Troy Senik Direct Dysfunctionality California “celebrates” 100 years of the initiative, referendum, and recall. 2 December 2011
Steven Greenhut Can’t Live by Scenery Alone California’s environmental lobby wages war on rural property owners. 28 November 2011
Tom Gray The Green and the Black California’s oil industry speaks loud enough for Jerry Brown to listen. 18 November 2011
Larry Sand Disrupting Class Why California’s teachers’ unions will eventually go the way of Betamax. 14 November 2011
Stephen Schwartz General Strikeout Occupy Oakland represents an end, not a beginning, in the history of the Left. 10 November 2011
Judith Miller San Francisco’s Pension Crisis Will the liberal city’s residents, worried about retirement costs’ “crowding out” services, embrace reform? 7 November 2011
John Hrabe Redistricting Role Reversal California’s black leaders have a problem with the Voting Rights Act. 3 November 2011
Ben Boychuk The Union’s Occupation United Teachers Los Angeles wages its own war on “the 1 percent” 28 October 2011
Steven Greenhut All in the “Family” How San Francisco’s political establishment is wrecking pension reform. 21 October 2011
Troy Senik Field of Schemes Crony capitalism is alive and well in L.A.’s pursuit of pro football. 18 October 2011
Jack Dunphy A Tale of Two Riots What London can learn from Los Angeles—and vice versa 12 October 2011
Tom Gray From Rich State to Poor State California’s decline will only get worse unless lawmakers loosen regulations. 5 October 2011
Heather Mac Donald Pathetic Crybaby Graffiti Vandals Stop the presses—now someone has defaced their work! 30 September 2011
Heather Mac Donald Half Baked UC Berkeley’s diversity machine loses its mind over cupcakes. 28 September 2011
Larry Sand Contract on California How useless “professional-development” classes for teachers cost taxpayers billions 23 September 2011
Steven Greenhut The Conventional Jerry Brown California’s governor is a politician, first, foremost, and always. 16 September 2011
Troy Senik The Enduring Proposition 13 Try as it might, the Left just can’t kill California’s property tax cap. 14 September 2011
Kevin James Too Much Time on Their Hands Why the Los Angeles City Council should meet less often 8 September 2011
Bruce S. Thornton The Other California How the San Joaquin Valley makes modern life possible 1 September 2011
Larry Sand Teachers’ Road Map to Nowhere A new study shows deep flaws in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but the local teachers’ union will resist any meaningful reform. 25 August 2011
Troy Senik The Edge of Reason U2’s guitarist is just the latest property owner to be bullied by the California Coastal Commission. 18 August 2011
Steven Greenhut Removing Politics from Politics California’s redistricting commission draws slanted lines on the political map. 12 August 2011
Conor Friedersdorf The New Watchdogs Can the Web drive investigative journalism in a post-newspaper era? 4 August 2011
Cynthia Ward High-Speed Train Wreck California’s multi-billion-dollar bullet-train boondoggle was predictable—and predicted. 3 August 2011
John J. Pitney, Jr. Electoral College Dropout? Why California should think twice about the National Popular Vote compact 29 July 2011
Ed Ring Popping the Public-Pension Bubble Public-employee unions underestimate the magnitude of California’s unfunded retirement liability. 26 July 2011
Troy Senik The Carmageddon That Wasn’t A rare success story from California’s crowded freeways 20 July 2011
Pete Peterson The Hong Kong of Los Angeles County? What a politically corrupt city might teach California 17 July 2011
Heather Mac Donald Less Academics, More Narcissism The University of California is cutting back on many things, but not useless diversity programs. 14 July 2011
Steven Greenhut Taking the Initiative Democrats are trying to remove the crown jewel of California’s Progressive-era reforms. 12 July 2011
Larry Sand Sizing Up Classrooms It’s time to expose the “smaller-is-better” myth. 7 July 2011
Tom Gray Yesterday’s Heroes? Big pensions put California police and firemen on the wrong side of public opinion. 30 June 2011
Stephen Schwartz Cruel Cuts San Francisco’s anti-circumcision initiative threatens religious liberty and public order. 24 June 2011
Larry Sand Grading the Teachers Ignore the union gripes—value-added teacher evaluations are a useful accountability tool and should be available for public scrutiny. 20 June 2011
Steven Greenhut California’s Nutty Budget Battle Jerry Brown vetoes a gimmicky spending plan—and still insists on higher taxes. 17 June 2011
John J. Pitney, Jr. Blurry Lines California’s redistricting commission draws an uncertain map of the Golden State’s electoral future. 14 June 2011
Matthew Cunningham Don’t Privatize That Book! The Service Employees International Union tries to stop California cities from outsourcing library services. 9 June 2011
Ben Boychuk Locking the Parent Trigger California’s teachers’ union wants a veto over parents’ power to turn around failing schools. 7 June 2011
Steven Greenhut Proving the Redevelopment Rule Evidence from Southern California that RDAs don’t work 3 June 2011
John C. Eastman Serious Constitutional Concessions If thousands of prisoners are set free in California, the Supreme Court won’t be solely to blame. 27 May 2011
Heather Mac Donald Jailbreak The Supreme Court’s California prison verdict could spark a crime comeback. 24 May 2011
Steven Greenhut Prisoner of the Union Jerry Brown’s deal with the prison guards is the opposite of budget reform. 24 May 2011
Brian Calle Madison on the Pacific Costa Mesa takes a stand on the costs of a public workforce. 20 May 2011
Bruce S. Thornton How Assimilation Works —and how multiculturalism has wrecked it in California 17 May 2011
Steven Greenhut Little Pain, Real Gains California’s Republicans finally offer a (short-term) budget plan. 13 May 2011
Larry Sand Debt the Teachers’ Unions Cause Us The California Teachers Association is a major contributor to the Golden State’s fiscal woes. 10 May 2011
Ed Ring What If Everyone Had a California State Pension? A thought experiment on how much more bankrupt we could be 5 May 2011
Bruce S. Thornton Mission Lost California’s state university system offers everything but a liberal education. 3 May 2011
Heather Mac Donald Crime in the Museums America’s first major graffiti show celebrates urban sabotage. 17 April 2011
Larry Sand One Small Strike Against Teacher Seniority A court ruling in Los Angeles offers some hope for students in failing schools. 22 March 2011
Ben Boychuk Triggering School Reform in California Parents push for their legal rights to better schools, but the education establishment pushes back. 3 March 2011
Paul Howard, James R. Copland The Whooping Cough’s Unnecessary Return Vaccination fears allow a once-vanquished killer to stalk California’s children. 2 February 2011
Heather Mac Donald Classical Music Meets the Big Screen The L.A. Philharmonic broadcasts a live concert into movie houses, with promising results. 1 February 2011
Steven Greenhut The Acting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s forgettable legacy 21 January 2011
 
Steven Greenhut San Francisco’s Pension Reckoning The City by the Bay cannot postpone tough choices forever. 1 December 2010
Pete Peterson No Volunteers, Please, We’re Unionized Public-sector employees vs. parents in Petaluma, California 30 November 2010
Steven Greenhut Impervious California Tuesday’s Republican onslaught bypassed the state that needed it most. 3 November 2010
Fred Siegel Indebted and Unrepentant New York and California stand virtually alone against the rest of the country. 3 November 2010
Steven Greenhut Smoke and Mirrors in Sacramento California’s latest state budget is a fraud. 26 October 2010
Steven Greenhut Broken California A new book offers weak electoral remedies for the state’s ongoing crisis. 18 October 2010
Steven Greenhut Progressives for Pension Reform? In California, some on the left are bucking unions in an effort to rein in costs. 9 September 2010
Marcus A. Winters Grading Teachers in Los Angeles Value-added measurement shows that many of the city’s teachers don’t belong in the classroom. 26 August 2010
Nicole Gelinas Bell’s Debt Tolls The California city’s problems go beyond a $787,637 man. 6 August 2010
Heather Mac Donald Riots Without Cause Protesting a fair and open trial in Oakland 9 July 2010
Pete Peterson Sacramento by Way of Trenton What gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman might learn from New Jersey governor Chris Christie 6 July 2010
Pete Peterson Freakish Frisco Where one-third of city workers make $100,000 and Willie Brown is a budget hawk 4 May 2010
Steven Greenhut Vallejo Goes for Broke Can bankruptcy save California’s cities from staggering pension obligations? 31 March 2010
Andrew Klavan A Tale of Two Cities Washington and Hollywood, both tone-deaf to American attitudes 23 March 2010
Ben Boychuk Arnold’s Worst Idea A draconian global-warming law will harm California’s economic recovery. 9 February 2010
 
Max Schulz Say Goodbye to Big-Screen TVs The latest environmental nonsense enacted by California’s tireless bureaucrats 24 November 2009
Steven Greenhut Plundering California Public-sector unions have brought the state to its knees. 23 November 2009
Heather Mac Donald Crime-Fighting, Beyond Black and White Big cities are ignoring race baiters and hiring the best police chiefs, whatever their color. 3 November 2009
William Voegeli Time Is on California’s Side . . . but time isn’t. 28 October 2009
Heather Mac Donald The Truth About Policing and Skid Row Summer 2009 proved that poor people’s best friend is the LAPD, not homeless advocates. 28 September 2009
John P. Avlon Repairs for Broken Systems Citizens in California and New York are pushing for constitutional conventions. 12 August 2009
Robert P. Murphy The Golden State’s Golden Tax Opportunity How California can prevent a sequel to its budget bust. 11 August 2009
Heather Mac Donald Proactive Policing, Lax Jailing As William Bratton leaves the LAPD, a horrific murder case highlights the importance of his reforms. 7 August 2009
John P. Avlon California Agonistes The budget crisis in Sacramento should serve as a warning to other states. 1 June 2009
Daniel J. Flynn Drinking Harvey Milk’s Kool-Aid Lionized by Hollywood and California state legislators, the real Milk was a demagogue and pal of Jim Jones. 21 May 2009
Andrew Klavan The Little Red Wagon That Can What I saw at the Tea Party 17 April 2009
Lawrence J. McQuillan Putting Drug Research in Legal Jeopardy California’s Wyeth ruling endangers pharmaceutical innovation. 3 April 2009
Max Schulz Obama’s California Dreamin’ The new president’s granting of an emissions waiver to California is the height of irresponsibility. 26 January 2009
 
Lawrence J. McQuillan Californians Voting with Their Feet The state government’s stifling economic policies are worsening the downturn and driving citizens elsewhere. 23 October 2008
 
Nicole Gelinas San Diego Saints California’s wildfire response took a page from Houston’s playbook, not New Orleans’s. 30 October 2007
Jacob Laksin, David Horowitz Radical U. Welcome to UC Santa Cruz, the worst school in America. 19 October 2007
John Leo Let the Segregation Commence Separatist graduations proliferate at UCLA. 13 June 2007
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