Entries for 'Keli'i Akina PhD'

... The result is exactly what we have in Hawaii: a lot of talk about lowering the cost of housing, but very little effective reform ....

“...First, do no harm....”

“...Are out-of-state buyers, especially foreigners, really driving Hawaii’s high home prices?....”

... they told me, ‘Send this person to Costco’ ....

... It’s hard not to look at the delay, political gamesmanship and dueling press statements and wonder how long it will be until Hawaii is in a similar situation ....

... I have been a strong advocate of protecting OHA’s funds from fraud, waste and abuse. I am as passionate about growing those funds to meet the needs of Hawaiians ....

... Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet ....

... many government watchdog entities appear to have been willfully ignoring, or even tacitly approving, some of Hawaii’s most egregious corruption scandals, according to Randy Roth ....

... how we got to this point ....

... the average delay for permits or approvals in Hawaii is more than three times as high as the national mean ....

... Here are some examples of “Red Flag” disbursements by OHA and the concerns raised by CLA ....

... Does the state have a responsibility to “go without,” if that would be better for the people? ....

... the Jones Act is harmful to the territory of Puerto Rico, and people throughout the U.S. should be skeptical of it, says Luis Ponce, co-founder and action director of the Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora ....

... It is tempting to look for scapegoats when we talk about Hawaii’s housing crisis ....

... in Hawaii County, residential permits take about 143 days to issue. In Honolulu, it’s 108 days for residential projects and 432 days for commercial projects over $1 million ....

... more regulation and delays ....

"...We’ve been renters all our lives...."

... The right way requires the involvement of the Legislature. It might be slower, but it is constitutional, democratic and results in real, lasting change ....

... The most recent example of this comes from Maui, where just this week the County Council killed a housing project that would have created 28 affordable units in Kihei ....

... The assumption is that they would simply have to take that additional loss ....

... It’s not just Hawaii residents who are being priced out of paradise. Slowly but surely, tourists are also wondering whether they can still afford to visit here ....

... Ige has until July 12th to veto ....

... Earlier this week, Gov. David Ige announced his “intent to veto” SB3089, a bill that aims to reform the state’s emergency powers law ....

... there are 18 candidates for six OHA trustee positions ....

... It was sold to the public on the promise that it would only cost about $4 billion, that it would be completed by 2019 and that the general excise tax surcharge associated with it would end by 2022 ....

... The former chairman of the University of Hawaii’s civil engineering department says aloha ....

... From a rate of 1.9% in 2018, inflation jumped to 7.1% in 2021 and was 8.2% as of April 2022 ....

... Hawaii’s policymakers haven’t given up the dream of regulating it into oblivion ....

... Hawaii’s gross domestic product is down by 4.43% since 2019, yet even as the economy suffers, all four counties seem determined to spend like crazy ....

... efforts to reform the state’s emergency powers law; reduce barriers to housing; bring taxes, debt and state spending under control ....

... the one thing we can rely on concerning the Honolulu rail project is the long list of unanswered questions ....

... Iwasa has valuable insights into the operations of the rail project because she also is a non-voting member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation ....

... bills to sign or veto ....

... There are many success stories of Native Hawaiians benefiting from financial capital through the NHRLF ....

... the state Hawaii Tourism Authority might receive no funding at all ....

... Oahu tightened the screws in 2019. Yet, housing prices still went up. Even when vacation rental usage declined during the lockdowns, it didn’t result in a significant drop in housing costs....

... Delays, zoning rules and a long pathway to approval make homebuilding difficult and expensive ....

... A bill to limit the governor’s emergency power is nearing the legislative finish line ....

... Simply allowing the market to operate helped create a windfall in state revenues ....

... there had been serious concerns over the integrity of the program, including concerns over favoritism ....

... evidence on the effect of minimum wages on employment, skills, wage and income distributions, and longer-term labor market outcomes ....

... it is not possible to turn an economy on and off like a light switch ....

... Hawaii had robust housing construction up until about 1972 or 1973, but then it collapsed and it has never recovered ....

... how Tokyo’s deregulation of its housing market resulted in more housing availability and affordable housing prices ....

... with the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, the 101-year-old federal maritime law is even being recognized as a danger to Hawaii’s energy security ....

... The practice of gut-and-replace allowed state lawmakers to pass laws without a full set of public hearings ....

... for years, Hawaii has been getting about one-third of its crude oil from Russia ....

... Watching proposed tax hikes make their way through the Legislature has become an annual tradition ....

... At times, it’s nearly impossible to know exactly why a bill was killed or who was for or against it. Such things happen behind the scenes ....

... the first evening tour of the ʻIolani Palace held in over a year ....