CMC In The News

KDAF in Dallas featured the 2022 Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey, which found that Texas is one of the least costly states to do business in, while California is one of the costliest. “Doing business in Southern California has many benefits, but the costs make it increasingly hard to pull off,” said Ken Miller, director of the Rose Institute for State and Local Government, and an author of the survey report. “Rising home values, office rents, labor costs, and burdensome new state and local laws were variables to watch this year as these costs continue to escalate.”

Prof. Minxin Pei published an op-ed in Bloomberg, “Why Didn’t China Prepare Better for Covid Chaos?”

“The trauma of China’s exit from Covid Zero represents a major policy failure that did not need to happen,” Pei wrote. “The country had plenty of time to prepare for this moment and could easily have applied the lessons learned from other countries, such New Zealand and Australia, that adopted and then abandoned similarly strict pandemic restrictions.”

The Associated Press interviewed Prof. Jack Pitney about how San Bernardino County voters approved a ballot proposal to explore seceding from California.

“A lot of Californians are unhappy in many ways,” said Prof. Jack Pitney, citing record gas prices, the rising cost of living, and real estate prices that make home ownership unattainable for many working-class families.

“The vote on secession was like smashing the china. It’s a way of getting attention but in the end it doesn’t accomplish much,” Pitney said.

An obituary published in The Claremont Courier paid tribute to Professor Ward Elliott, who died on Dec. 6, 2022, at age 85. A beloved professor at CMC, Elliott inspired the minds and spirits of generations of students through his teaching, mentorship, and sing-along parties at his home.

The Claremont Courier reported on the unveiling of CMC’s 2023 Rose Parade^® float design at Family Fun Day on Dec. 11. The design, with the theme ‘launching responsible leaders,’ was visible in a detailed rendering.

 The Claremont Courier featured CMC’s float entry in the 2023 Rose Parade^®, sharing the float’s design elements, which include “snow-capped Mt. Baldy, public art, iconic buildings, a creative take on CMC’s book and globe logo, and Southern California native flora.”

Prof. Minxin Pei published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times arguing that the Chinese government must order “the immediate approval and import of mRNA vaccines” to quell protests over the country’s “rigid ‘zero-COVID’” policies.

Prof. Terril Yue Jones published an essay in Politico magazine, reflecting on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—which Jones covered as a journalist—in relation to the recent anti-zero-Covid protests in China. Jones noted the distinct similarities between 1989 and 2022 before detailing the stark differences. “In 1989 there was … no internet and the mobile phone I used was as big as my shoe. People relied on newspapers, radio and television for their news and for their cues. Today of course every pedestrian has a video-capable device packed with social media apps,” he wrote.

Business Insider interviewed Prof. Minxin Pei about how the mass protests in China present the country’s President Xi Jinping with the biggest crisis of his time in power. "This is Xi's first real test," Pei said. "The choices are very hard, and he's not been faced with such a tough challenge in the last decade."

PBS NewsHour interviewed Prof. Minxin Pei about the significance of China’s largest protests in more than 30 years. “For the first time, we have seen simultaneous protests in major Chinese cities,” he said. “But the other thing about this round of protests is that participants seem to come from a wide range of social backgrounds.”

In an opinion piece for Nikkei Asia, Prof. Minxin Pei writes: “(China’s President) Xi Jinping has a tough decision to make on China's COVID protests. Ending lockdowns and cracking down would both have high costs.”

The New York Times interviewed Prof. Minxin Pei about the challenges China’s President Xi Jinping faces with “zero COVID” restrictions: “You can arrest people and put them in jail, but the virus will still be there. There are simply no easy answers for him, only hard choices,” Pei said.

In an interview with The Daily Beast about the House Republican caucus launching investigations against President Joe Biden, Prof. Jack Pitney said, “Unless they come up with some dramatic new information that directly involves President Biden, this tactic is unlikely to succeed and may well backfire."

In their economic analysis, “Riverside County vs. San Bernardino County: A look at employment and the labor force,” published by The San Bernardino Sun, Prof. Manfred Keil and Lowe Institute research analyst Jinghan Hu write: “If you want to improve the economic well-being of the region’s residents and perhaps envision a future where people reside and work in that region, then one must attract industries that have better paying jobs than in today’s mix of industries.”

In an interview with Newsweek, Prof. Andrew Busch discussed the political implications of a railroad strike. He said that while a strike could lead to more shortages, supply-chain disruptions and higher prices, President Biden would not want to "intervene in a heavy-handed way to block a strike, either."