Manufacturing in the greater Tri-Cities certainly isn’t the largest sector. By recent (2018) average annual headcount, it ranks ninth, with about 8,200 workers.If you’re wondering, government – at all levels – is largest.Manufacturing also isn’t a greater provider of high wages in the local economy. In 2018, it paid an...
Have you ever yearned for the good old days where a handshake deal was all you needed? The days where, with that handshake, you could trust that the deal would get done and get done right?Those days of trust are not gone. People are still generally trustworthy. People want to...
Editor’s note: U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, released on June 4 the following response to retired Gen. James Mattis’ condemnation of President Donald Trump for divisive policies and using active duty soldiers to disperse protestors motivated by the death of George Floyd during his arrest by police in Minneapolis. Newhouse...
An oft-used description of economics has been the “dismal science.” Most of us economists soundly dislike that nickname. After all, recent Nobel prize winners in economics have been rewarded for their insights into poverty alleviation (2019) and technological change (2018).But this month, I present some definitely dismal numbers.In a departure...
Property rights are often considered a “bundle of sticks” where a person can own varying interests in land.The person can own the entire bundle—called “fee simple.”Or a person can own distinct and specific interests in a piece of property. One form of ownership is the ownership of only the oil...
We are learning many painful lessons during the coronavirus shutdown. A key lesson that if a policy isn’t economically sustainable, it isn’t environmentally sustainable. This is a particularly important lesson to remember when considering how to promote recovery of salmon and steelhead populations on the Snake River.Earlier this year, the...
Several federal agencies just released a massive court-ordered federal study (called an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS) about the Snake and Columbia river dams.If you had other things on your mind last month, that’s more than understandable. Also, you didn’t miss much: the EIS is just another federal study aimed...
Reopening Washington’s economy while fighting the coronavirus will be an incredible challenge, but there is a way forward.We’ll get through this.The path forward requires sober assessment of what we’re up against: A crisis that has put us on a path toward 1 million unemployed, with one in five Washington workers...
No matter your age, mental health and well-being are influenced by numerous factors and are susceptible to change. Right now, most people, across all sectors of society, are being affected by the global health crisis related to the new coronavirus. One particular group we should keep in mind during this...
By East Benton County Historical SocietyOn May 14, 1920, exactly 100 years ago this month, Kennewick High School graduated its 13th class with festivities and ceremonies marking the occasion.Kennewick graduated its first class in 1908, and this year marks its 113th graduating class.The tradition of graduation ceremonies, complete with pomp...
