California Pulls the Plug on Construction
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Banks, charities and other sophisticated investors fell victim to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme; $50 billion may be just the tip of the iceberg. On this rebroadcast of today's To the Point, why were so many taken for so much when so many others knew it was fraud? Also, a state agency has shut down almost 2000 construction projects, including highways, schools and levees. At stake are billions for business and tens of thousands of jobs. It's all about the budget.
Banner image: Intersection of I-10 and I-15 in California
Main Topic
Wall Street's One-Man Wrecking Crew ()
In 1999, an investment advisor named Harry Markopolos warned the Securities and Exchange Commission that Bernard Madoff was "running the world's largest Ponzi scheme." The SEC has closed several investigations without taking action, and SEC Chairman Chris Cox is investigating 10 years of regulatory failure. But what about the investors? Madoff himself reportedly says that banks, hedge funds, charities and wealthy people all over the world have been taken for $50 billion.
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California Pulls the Plug on Construction ()
Barack Obama says public spending will stimulate the economy and help end the recession, but the biggest state in the union is moving in the other direction. California's Pooled Money Investment Board is little known but vitally important to the day-to-day services the state provides. Today, the Board cut off the money for 1,985 construction projects, including highways, levees, prisons and pollution clean-up. Billions of dollars for business are at stake along with tens of thousands of jobs. The Board members are the Governor's Finance Director and two elected officials, Controller John Chiang and Treasurer Bill Lockyer. Lockyer is chair. We hear why 2000 California construction projects are being shut down.
Guests:
- Bill Lockyer: Treasurer, State of California
- Evan Halper: Sacramento Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times, @evanhalper
- Jim Earp: Executive Director, California Alliance for Jobs
- Stephen Levy: Director, Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy
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Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
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