regulation

Feudal Future Podcast — AI Intentionality: Who's Really in Control?

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 19:23:16 -0400

What happens when we give machines the power to think without ensuring they share our values? This riveting conversation dives deep into one of humanity's most pressing challenges: controlling artificial intelligence as it grows increasingly powerful.

Joined by Roni Abovitz, founder of groundbreaking companies Mako Surgical and Magic Leap, and neuroscientist Dr. Uri Maoz from Chapman University, we explore the profound question of AI intentions.

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The Center for Demographics and Policy focuses on research and analysis of global, national, and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time. It involves Chapman students in demographic research under the supervision of the Center’s senior staff.

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This show is presented by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, which focuses on research and analysis of global, national and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time.

Feudal Future Podcast: Nurturing California Industries

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 17:21:11 -0400

On this special Feudal Future episode, Joel Kotkin sits down with Marshall Toplansky & Sougata Poddar as they discuss Chapman University's brand new report on nurturing California industries.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE:
https://www.chapman.edu/Nurturing California Industries

Find more podcast episode at joelkotkin.com/JoelKotkin.com.

What the New York Times Won't Admit About California

Joel Kotkin — Thu, 05 May 2022 11:26:50 -0400

Even the New York Times has to admit unpleasant realities, like the departure of people from California and other deep blue states. But one thing the paper, and other similarly-minded reporters based here, will never admit: the connection between the California economy and regulation and the rising out-migrations.

The Times accepts that people are leaving in part due to costs, but puts much emphasis on other factors, like the decline in immigration under the monstrous Trump, Covid deaths and falling birthrates. Yet these factors have occurred across the country, and other regions, notably in the sunbelt and the South, have experienced rapid population growth. It turns out that policy choices that California has made seems the likely prime cause for the state’s shocking demographic decline.

This net out-migration, as the Times admits, has been going on for decades. Some people, particularly in academia and the mainstream media, continue to label claims of an “exodus” as essentially false; the LA Times, a good barometer of political correctness on the West Coast, called it “a myth” reflective of the political bias of “haters.” But as we show in our recent Chapman University report, since 2000, California has lost 2.6 million net domestic migrants — more than the current combined population of San Diego, San Francisco, and Anaheim (the cities).

In 2020, California accounted for 28% of all net domestic out-migration in the nation — about 50% more than its share of the US population (19%).

Read the rest of this piece at UnHerd.

Joel Kotkin is the author of The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class. He is the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and Executive Director for Urban Reform Institute. Learn more at joelkotkin.com and follow him on Twitter @joelkotkin.

Webinar: Restoring the California Dream

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 18:29:19 -0500

A new report by Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and Marshall Toplansky, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Science at Chapman University lays out the challenges faced by middle and working-class Californians. The January 21 presentation of the report was followed by an all-star panel led by Jeff Ball, new CEO of the Orange County Business Council. Click here to learn more and download a copy of the report.

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Feudal Future Podcast: Special Episode — Restoring the California Dream

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 11:37:29 -0500

On this episode of Feudal Future, hosts Marshall Toplansky and Joel Kotkin announce the new California report they've been working on, and have a special invite to all our listeners on January 21st.

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About the hosts:

Joel Kotkin is the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, Executive Director of the Urban Reform Institute, and an internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends. His most recent book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism is now available for order.

Marshall Toplansky is a widely published and award-winning marketing professional and successful entrepreneur. He co-founded KPMG’s data & analytics center of excellence and now teaches and consults corporations on their analytics strategies.

Feudal Future Podcast — Power & Responsibility: Tech's Control from the Eyes of a VC

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 13:08:58 -0400

On this episode of Feudal Future, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Andrew Romans, Venture Capitalist, 3x author, advisor to Corporate Venture Capital Groups & Host of podcast - Fireside with a VC.

Andrew Romans is the founder of 7BC Venture Capital and Rubicon Venture Capital. Andrew lives by the motto - only invest if you can add value – otherwise, you do not deserve to be in the deal. He has financially outperformed more than 75% of all VCs in Silicon Valley. Before becoming a VC he was a VC-backed entrepreneur and 3x author, former techVC and M&A investment banker, founder of The Founders Club & cofounder of Georgetown Angels. He is the author of Masters of Corporate Venture Capital, Masters of Blockchain & The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital, which have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Russian by major publishers. Romans raised over $48m for tech startups he founded by the age of 28. He is fluent in English, French & German. MBA Georgetown University, which he completed on scholarship.

[ 2:33] Concentration of power in global tech

[ 6:45] Historians perspective of the power of tech giants

[16:30] The impact on the middle class and becoming labor slaves

[29:08] Effect of regulations on tech giants and a glimpse into the feudal future

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Learn more about Andrew Romans and his company here : https://7bc.vc/

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Regulation of Electric Power in Texas

Jim Crump — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 12:12:40 -0500

Politicians, pundits, and the public at large have voiced deep concern that electricity was tragically unavailable to many Texans during the recent period of extreme cold. Claims that lax ERCOT planning caused the problem are exaggerated. “Grid independence” from federal regulation is manageable. The problem lies in the supervisory structure that regulates the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) - Texas’ Public Utility Commission (PUC), a three-member panel appointed by the state legislature, and our elected officials, ultimate guardians of the public interest.

To start, claims that ERCOT’s planning process is undisciplined are misleading. Published documents (December 2020, January 2021) evidence well-structured scenario planning of capacity, demand, and reserve margin, including grid requirements and fuel types. True, evolving events brought conditions not premised in these studies but laxness is an unwarranted criticism.

The next layer of electric power management: Oversight of ERCOT by the PUC. Here, critical commentary by knowledgeable observers is valid. To begin with, independent management of Texas’ power grid – that is, independent of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – rests on reasonable logic, not merely the fabled secessionist tendencies of Texans.

Read the rest of this piece at Houston Strategies.

Jim Crump is an energy and chemical industry leader with a depth of industry experience gained with Shell, Accenture Consulting, DuPont, and ExxonMobil, who focuses on energy transition and sustainability.

Ask the Experts: Revitalizing California's Business Climate

New Geography — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 12:01:35 -0500

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.

If you missed the event, a video of the virtual town hall is below:

Feudal Future Podcast — The End of Innovation: Exposing California

New Geography — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:44:04 -0500

On today's episode of Feudal Future hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky are joined by Tracy Hernandez. Tracy Hernandez is the Founding Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed), a nonprofit, massive grassroots alliance of 180 top business networks that counts among its more than 400,000 business members a diverse demographic, industry sector, and geographic array of small and large employers of over 3.5 million people in Southern California. (BizFed 2020)

[6:00] Marshall shares an innovation graph of the past 5 years for multiple states. California has been at the bottom of innovation growth. Marshall comments that our innovators are leaving our state by storm.

[12:00] Dee Dee Myers and GoBiz. Joel shares his thoughts about Newsom and the implications of appointing the wrong people with power.

[19:00] Prop 19. App Based Drivers in California. Tracy shares how the state could have crippled thousands of contractors with the pass of Prop 19.

[32:00] Restaurant Owners and Shutdowns. Tracy and Joel defend small business owners that are in near bankruptcy due to shutdowns.

The episode ends with a question from Tracy. “What will the tipping point be for California business owners?”

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Leran about Joel's book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism.

Uber! Regulations Mean San Francisco Loses While Phoenix and Pittsburgh Win

Joseph Vranich — Sat, 24 Dec 2016 12:49:24 -0500

Any business person who has dealt with California's frustrating laws, regulations and bureaucrats was nonetheless surprised to see the story headlined, "Uber Ships Self-Driving Cars to Arizona After California Ban."

Really? A state ban on Uber? The poster child of the billion-dollar-plus startup, tech-guru, market-disruptor club? Why would Sacramento give Uber, of all people, a bad time?

Reuters said Uber Technologies Inc. pulled its fleet of self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco and sent them to Arizona's friendlier territory:

The California Department of Motor Vehicles banned Uber’s self-driving cars from San Francisco just days after they first deployed. In response, Uber picked up and moved out. "Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck, Uber said... . We’ll be expanding our self-driving pilot there in the next few weeks, and we’re excited to have the support of Governor Ducey."

Gov. Doug Ducey wooed Uber on social media the evening when the ride-hailing company pulled its self-driving test from San Francisco. “California may not want you; but AZ does!” he wrote on Twitter. The next morning, Uber’s fleet was headed his way.

California moved to revoke registrations for Uber's automobiles, but Uber said its vehicles require oversight by a human driver and shouldn’t qualify under California’s autonomous-driving rules. Nonetheless, the state Attorney General and soon-to-be Senator, Kamala Harris (loyal to unions and hostile to business interests), threatened legal action if the company continued operating automobiles without a permit.

Uber in Arizona

Anthony Levandowski, the head of Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, argued that because the company's self-driving system is an early prototype and requires test drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times. It's no different from driver-assist systems already on the market -- and those are exempt from the requirement for a California permit.

Levandowski said that it isn't clear why the DMV is requiring a permit now when they’ve known that Ubers have been on the streets of San Francisco over a month and have been operating safely for months in Pittsburgh, "where policymakers and regulators are supportive of our efforts."

Last year, Uber opened its Center for Excellence in Phoenix, where it serves U.S. customers and Uber users worldwide. Now, it seems that more development work will occur in Phoenix. That's what happens when a state is friendly to business interests.

Uber in Pittsburgh

Uber has been successfully testing autonomous-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh for some time. An extensive Wall Street Journal story in September -- Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Debut in Pittsburgh -- described how Uber is turning the city into an "experimental lab" where it will have as many as 100 specially equipped Volvo XC90s operating. Also, reported the WSJ, the city has its quirks – like the "Pittsburgh left turn" – which makes it a great location for testing autonomous vehicles:

It is customary for the first driver at a stoplight who is signaling a left turn to have priority over oncoming traffic when the light turns green. People in the oncoming lanes generally allow that leftward dash and are puzzled or even angry if it doesn’t occur. Uber has programmed its cars to allow other cars to make the 'Pittsburgh left' but not to make it themselves. The city is also notoriously difficult to drive through with steep hills and three rivers that make streets twist and turn unpredictably... . “If you can drive successfully in Pittsburgh, you’re pretty much done,” said Ragunathan Rajkumar, a professor at [Carnegie Mellon University] who specializes in autonomous vehicles.

Last year Uber opened an Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh and this year is developing its second research facility there, which will be part of a massive brownfield redevelopment site. Uber says it likes Pittsburgh's “world-class research universities and engineers and a thriving technology community.”

Uber entered into a strategic partnership with Carnegie Mellon University to help create its new technology center and also to rely on the university's National Robotics Engineering Center to do R&D in mapping, vehicle safety and autonomy technology. Safety is one of Uber's major concerns.

Uber also selected Pittsburgh because of the clustering of robotics companies such as Carnegie Robotics and RedZone Robotics.

Although California prides itself on the pool of technical talent found in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Uber has found justification to praise Phoenix and Pittsburgh for the talent available from local universities and the community support of technology and innovation.

Uber's experience in San Francisco shows that venture capitalists, Ph.Ds in robotics and software engineers are no match for an all-knowing California bureaucracy.

Joseph Vranich is the Principal of Spectrum Location Solutions, an Irvine-based Site Selection firm that helps companies identify optimum locations to accommodate growth or to improve competitiveness. On such projects he conducts an in-depth analysis of business taxes, the regulatory climate, labor rates, logistics options and lifestyle factors.