Siyamak Khorrami

Across California, an increasing number of families are reaching the point where an aging parent needs more care than relatives can safely provide at home. The next step can bring costs and decisions that many families have had little time to prepare for.

For years, this looked like a story about weather, or growth, or the number of people on the street. Those are part of it. But the people who deal with rodents for a living say something else changed, too, and it narrowed what they can do about the rats.

Parking that was once free now comes with a meter. Trash pickup costs more, and local ballots continue to carry proposals for new taxes and fees. Across California, people are being asked to pay more as cities, counties, and school districts face pressure to maintain the services residents use every day. Each charge can look like a separate local decision.

Wall Street is spending the summer trying to read one man’s mind. A new chair now runs the Federal Reserve, and every desk is guessing which way interest rates move next. With the economy looking steady, it can feel as though the difficult part is over.

The Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted for more than four months, and crude is still trading in the $80s. Meanwhile, diesel at the U.S. pump has passed $5 a gallon and has outpaced crude since the crisis began. If the world’s biggest oil choke point remains this constrained, why isn’t the oil price showing more of the strain?

Californians have heard plenty about businesses leaving the state. The other direction gets less attention: what it takes for a new business to come in. In regulated industries, entry requires licensing, and an application can remain pending for years without a response.

Across California, home prices have continued rising while incomes haven’t kept pace. In Orange County, for example, buying an average home now takes more than a six-figure income.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already changing every industry, and most of the people living through it have no precedent to tell them what’s coming next. One industry does.

Across California, an increasing number of families are reaching the point where an aging parent needs more care than relatives can safely provide at home. The next step can bring costs and decisions that many families have had little time to prepare for.

For years, this looked like a story about weather, or growth, or the number of people on the street. Those are part of it. But the people who deal with rodents for a living say something else changed, too, and it narrowed what they can do about the rats.

Parking that was once free now comes with a meter. Trash pickup costs more, and local ballots continue to carry proposals for new taxes and fees. Across California, people are being asked to pay more as cities, counties, and school districts face pressure to maintain the services residents use every day. Each charge can look like a separate local decision.

Wall Street is spending the summer trying to read one man’s mind. A new chair now runs the Federal Reserve, and every desk is guessing which way interest rates move next. With the economy looking steady, it can feel as though the difficult part is over.

The Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted for more than four months, and crude is still trading in the $80s. Meanwhile, diesel at the U.S. pump has passed $5 a gallon and has outpaced crude since the crisis began. If the world’s biggest oil choke point remains this constrained, why isn’t the oil price showing more of the strain?

Californians have heard plenty about businesses leaving the state. The other direction gets less attention: what it takes for a new business to come in. In regulated industries, entry requires licensing, and an application can remain pending for years without a response.

Across California, home prices have continued rising while incomes haven’t kept pace. In Orange County, for example, buying an average home now takes more than a six-figure income.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already changing every industry, and most of the people living through it have no precedent to tell them what’s coming next. One industry does.