Pepperdine University
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University
PROFILE
David M. Smith
Guest
FROM David M. Smith
Which Way, L.A.?
Grocery Workers Are Still on the Job The grocery strike won't happen , assuming that union members ratify a tentative settlement reached this morning. Fifty-four thousand workers is more than the Bank of America is laying off nationwide, but it's the number who would be walking picket lines in Southern California if the United Food and Commercial Workers failed to make a deal with Ralphs , Vons and Albertsons.
To the Point
Standoff between Striking Hollywood Writers and the Studios With the Hollywood screenwriters' strike heading into its third month and a possible actors strike looming in 2008, is Hollywood headed for a complete shutdown of production? Can the studios let that happen? What is the writers strike about? Will the studios' hard line against the writers provoke or suppress strikes by directors and actors? Why do studios that lavish millions on stars insist that they can't afford to pay writers a few more pennies for the sale of a DVD?
Recommended
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.