Why Hawaii became a State for The Rich Only

Hawaii, the last state to join the USA, is renowned not just for its pivotal role in military operations and its allure as a top tourist destination, but also for its significant economic contributions on a global scale. Despite its modest size and remote location, the Hawaiian Islands boast an economic output rivaling countries like Bulgaria and Ecuador. This video delves into how Hawaii has carved out this economic niche, presenting a unique case study that challenges conventional measures of prosperity.

While for many, Hawaii represents the perfect surfing getaway or a strategic naval base, the reality for its residents is a daily life marked by unique economic challenges. The state grapples with some of the highest living costs in the world, lacking the high-paying jobs that usually justify such expenses. From costly day-to-day necessities influenced by its isolation and tourist appeal to critical lapses in economic policy, this video examines the underlying issues that could be improved almost immediately—if there was a political will to address them.

Is it really just the price of living in paradise? This video questions whether these economic challenges can be managed without giving the state an unfair advantage and explores the potential consequences of neglecting these issues. How does Hawaii compare to other states and global economies when addressing these pressing concerns?

This video was made possible by our Patreon community! ❤️
See new videos early, participate in exclusive Q&As, and more!

#EconomicsExplained #Grammarly #Hawaii

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Check out our other channels ▶️
Epic Economics @EconomicsIsEpic
Context Matters @Context.Matters

And our Language Channels →

Also on Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you listen!

#EconomicsExplained

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

ECONOMICS EXPLAINED IS MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR PATREON COMMUNITY 👊🙏

👑 ROYALTY CLASS 👑
Juan Benet

UPPER CLASS
Valkmit, Randall, Charles Youngs, Jeromy Johnson.

UPPER MIDDLE CLASS
Ernest Hua, Michael Wakim, Pineapples&bricks, Robert Abraham, Peter Wesselius, Michael Ling, Frank Soltero, David Poliakoff, Jay Eno, Sophie G, Brett Jubinville, Anthony Roberts, jill hoffman, Nathan Ngumi, JKH, Post Apocalyptic In Missouri, Laor Glukhovsky, Forodon, Paul Ashworth, Wendover Productions, Andrew Harrison, Shane Wailes, Igor Bazarny

MIDDLE CLASS
Per von Zweigbergk, Malleus Flavus, Backartoffel, Andy Giesen, Christopher Kastensmidt, Aryan, William Sherlock, Gerhardus, Derrick Yowell, BUBBA CONWAY, Chris, Brian, Vladimir Zotov, Seth, Dragan Alexandru, Jason, Jamie Costello, Leah Klearman, Klaus Clemens, Ps0Fa, Abel, Randall Sylvia, Eric Slimko, Empyre18, Brian Jackson, Istvan P, Kieran VR, Leonid Sorokoumov, Thomas Davenport, Nicholas Luchetta, Kim Brand, Ted Marcy, John Issitt, Joe Ryan, Patrick Staight, Wees Kendall, Shane Guthrie, Karan Mehta, roGER, Randy Cleary, Arjan, Liubov Zvereva, Michael D. Hall, Long Phan, Craig Mews, Kent Klatchuk, Roman~1, Chris Hawkins, Wesley Fite, David McIlveen, Anthony, Arend Peter Castelein, Daniel Alberto Vázquez Rodríguez, Kamil Sicinski, Dodd Willingham, Leo Vassershteyn, How long can a profile name be... this long... Wow, this is longer than I would have expected. Good lord, the letters! Secunda!, Michael Kürbis, Hugh Harris, David W., Dar H, Will, Kheng Lai Tan, David Taylor, Scott Greenwood, Jane Walerud, Zachary Demko, Michael Wolff, Siegfried Eggl, PM, Jack Annear, michael, Franklin, Trevor, Marcel Roquette, Daniel Hall, Connor Costello, John D Tyler, Petronio Coelho, Kevin MacIntyre, Travis Thompson, Matthew Eggleston, Kenneth Lum, Andrew Vinnichenko, Zachary Kasow, Johannes, Reuben Field, Nigel Pauli, Jacob, AB3, Matt McKee, Victor T., John C, Rimvydas, John Downie, Donald Wedington, Demo sthenes, Ed, Hayden van Reyswoud.

[danycashking]

The other problem with economies dependent heavily on tourism is that tourism creates lots of jobs, but lots of low-skilled and low-paid jobs with little to no prospects to progress into a middle or high-income job. A bartender/maid/tourist guide will pretty much always stay just unless there are other options, when most jobs are the same jobs, people won't grow out of those low jobs. And that also eats into the government's coffers because most government revenue is usually from taxes on income, low income of citizens = less tax revenue, which counter-intuitively makes the government focus even more on tourism and VAT/Sales tax revenue by increasing the volume of tourists which just perpetuates the issues.

[RachetRanger]

As a Polynesian born and raised in Hawaii I really appreciate this video; even in just 17min it was nice to feel heard. Seeing time lapses of our landscape from just my generation, let alone my grandparents, is devastating. The lands been poisoned.

From our kingdoms history and effects of annexation and even mentioning the jones act, well done.

[seattlegrrlie]

I'm from Hawaii and I cannot afford to live back home. Nor do I want to work at a hotel serving tourists

[dj_laundry_list]

I've been to remote corners of the islands, and stayed in some pretty nice places and some of the worst. They face a unique challenge due to high overhead costs for many necessities, but could do much better in regulations to help out their less well off residents, and not let wealthy estates monopolize land use

[corvinmull]

The Jones act is often cited as a major factor in the state of US states economies. Can we get a video breaking down the economic costs and benefits and why it's still a law?

[Shuichii]

Very glad you mentioned the Jones Act. Most people, including those in Hawaii don't know about it or cite it as a reason for the high cost of goods.

[asha]

The Jones Act should be repealed. It’s also had a devastating effect on Puerto Rico

[doujinflip]

I'm still surprised that there hasn't been a Grand Theft Auto based on Hawai'i. It has all the features characteristic to the franchise: developed urban settings with nearby rural areas, distinctive scenery without extreme climate, obviously multicultural, heavily trafficked with tourists, underlying local community tensions, isolated islands with nothing else nearby to map, and still America.

[erf]

Even a single US Senator can block the business of the entire congress when they want to. We've seen them do it for petty disputes and to score political points. Most recently, an Alabama senator *by himself* blocked every military promotion that required senate approval. That was hundreds of top jobs directly blocked and hundreds more indirectly when you think about the people that were waiting to be promoted once the other guys moved on to their new jobs.

Hawaii and Alaska have four senators between them. These are the states most affected by the Jones Act. Their citizens have to pay more for everything because of this law. The only reason this law is still screwing up Hawaii and Alaska is that those four senators do not care about the people living in their states. They refuse to draw their line on the sand and demand that a monopoly which only exists so that a few shipping magnates can get rich should not come at the expense of the people in their state.

[thecaptain]

I'm so glad you brought attention to the Jones Act. It should be entirely repealed. It is why it was so difficult to get aid in to Puerto Rico recently. It only increases shipping costs and removes competition to the benefit of a very small ship building industry.

[MenkoDany]

Hawaii's land area is between that of Eswatini and East Timor. Honestly, it's smaller than I expected. And also, East Timor is way larger than I expected

[acactus]

As someone from Hawaii, thank you for making this video. It's sad that ancestral land is held hostage therefore making sure there will always be a low paid work force that won't leave the land where their people and customs originate from

[dee]

thank you!i was floored when i woke up and saw that you actually did this. ty to your team for all of this. I do hope it opens peoples eyes here, mainly people that have power to make a change, so they can do so. i really appreciate it tons! you guys are friggen awesome.

[MenkoDany]

Watch Peter Santello's series on Hawaii really opened my eyes to how reliant on imports Hawaii is, and how much untapped potential there is

[michaelsilver]

Consider the difference between cost of living in a rural area you're familiar with vs the nearest urban center, and then think about how Hawaii has higher living costs than DC, which is basically a state that is 100% urban.

[yutakago]

The Jones Act forbids shipping anything between American ports in ships that are not U.S. built and crewed. This makes goods cost more, the average Hawaii family must pay $1, 800 more a year. If Hawaii is allowed to import goods directly from Asia countries like South East Asia countries. The cost of living in Hawaii will go down significantly.

[boriskaraivanov]

You mentioned Bulgaria- the fastest shrinking nation in the world. It’s worth to make a video about her🇧🇬

[imbarmstrong]

Don't think I've ever complained on of these videos but the greyscale maps lack contrast which makes them actually difficult to distinguish land masses / islands from ocean / sea as they rush past without pausing / rewinding the video.

[taylortheyummy]

I think another great topic to go over is the Canadian province of British Columbia (and all the problems in Vancouver) as it is a tourist hotspot within the Canadian context and also suffers from overinflated housing costs and low wages. BC is also sometimes known as a playground for the rich and has a large tourism sector to support its economy.

[jlm]

You should do Puerto Rico next, the same stuff happening in Hawaii is happening to us, except with Puerto Rico we have an extremely corrupt government that is incentivizing all this bad stuff to happen by making Puerto Rico a tax haven, and wasting all our money pushing for statehood when it's extremely unlikely to happen since theres so many obstacles. Now famous people like Logan and Jake Paul, Larry Page, Brock Pierce, Peter Schiff have all moved to Puerto Rico and are buying up all the land.