[Source: The Los Angeles Times] Late last year, after a group of self-described moderate Democrats successfully watered down a landmark climate change bill pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown and fiercely opposed by the oil lobby, a flurry of headlines trumpeted the rise of the so-called Mod Squad in Sacramento. But 2016 has not been as kind to Read More…
Tag: economy
Orange County’s workforce loses Millennials who can’t afford to live here
[Source: Orange County Register] Orange County’s economy is growing, but danger signs are mounting. Jobs are expanding at a healthy clip, but many of the new positions pay poverty-level wages. Home values are surging, but an extreme shortage of affordable residences is driving young families and working-age adults out of the county. And as business Read More…
Is shipping the next financial crisis?
[Source: Port Technology] The Hanjin Shipping collapse rocked the shipping industry; the seventh largest shipping company operating at the time filing for receivership and leaving its vessels abandoned across the globe was potentially a warning sign for things to come for other industry actors. It was reported by Port Technology that Hanjin Shipping was having Read More…
Economic growth has not “decoupled” from CO2 emissions
[Source: Fox & Hounds] With the enactment of new climate change regulation through 2030, California leaders are closing ranks to make the economic and business case for more mandates. The new requirement will reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 40 percent below 2020 emissions. On a per capita basis, that’s a reduction of one-half Read More…
Fading college dream saps U.S. economy of productivity miracle
[Source: Bloomberg News] For decades, a growing pool of college graduates poured into the U.S. labor market, boosting productivity and shaping America’s status as the world’s dominant economic power. That driver of growth is diminishing. Enrollment has declined every year since peaking in 2011, according to the Census Bureau and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Read More…
Poor at 20, poor for life
[Source: The Atlantic] A new study indicates that from the 1980s to the 2000s, it became less likely that a worker could move up the income ladder. It’s not an exaggeration: It really is getting harder to move up in America. Those who make very little money in their first jobs will probably still be Read More…
Los Angeles continues to lose manufacturing jobs
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] Los Angeles continues to face decline in high-paying manufacturing jobs as workers flee the city, according to a recent report. The city has shed 20 percent of its manufacturing positions since 2007, a 2016 economic forecast released by the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University said. Read More…
Don’t let 5% unemployment fool you about California’s economic health
[Source: Real Clear Markets] “It’s the economy, stupid,” – now an iconic political statement, in many ways sums up decades of political science research showing that voters care about the current state and prospects of their pocketbooks. Of course, local, state, national, and even occasionally, international issues flare up and matter, but on a whole, Read More…
Global economic crisis tied to thousands of cancer deaths
[Source: CBS News] The global economic downturn of 2008 to 2010 — along with the rise in unemployment that came with it — was associated with more than 260,000 excess cancer-related deaths, many of which were considered treatable, according to new research. The study, published in The Lancet, also found that the effect was lessened Read More…