Beacon Economics
Economist and Founder of Beacon Economics; a research and consulting firm that specializes in the real estate market and economic development in Los Angeles; former senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, an economic outlook for Southern California and the nation at UCLA's Anderson School of Management
Politics and the Minimum Wage in Los Angeles LA County's newly constituted Board of Supervisors wants to consider the impact of raising the minimum wage. New member Sheila Kuehl, who was elected with the support of organized labor, made the proposal and veteran Mike Antonovich made the vote unanimous — to make sure the negative consequences are considered. He opposes the idea .
The West Coast Ports and the US Economy The President has sent Labor Secretary Tom Perez to San Francisco to try to bring longshore workers and West Coast shippers together after nine months of working without a contract. The shippers claim workers have slowed things down — so they shut 29 ports for three days to avoid paying holiday premiums.
Is California Giving Troubled Homeowners a Break? The housing crisis hit California harder than any state except Florida. In addition, California's considered "bank friendly," because lenders don't have to go to court to foreclose on home mortgages. So, when the Assembly and Senate took up the so-called " Homeowners' Bill of Rights " yesterday, the Wall Street Journal called it the nation's " biggest showdown between lenders and lawmakers ." Attorney General Kamala Harris pushed hard to get the measure passed in both houses, and she's claiming a big win.
Wall Street and the California State Budget This was the worst day on Wall Street since the depths of the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 513 points, 4.3 percent; the Standard & Poor's 500 was off 4.8 percent; the New York Stock Exchange composite was down 5.4 percent. Most major US stock indexes are down by 10 percent from the highs they reached this Spring, and almost all are in the red for 2011. Christopher Thornberg is an economist with Beacon Economics, a firm that specializes in LA's real estate market and economic development.
The State Budget: Balanced or Not? As a share of the state's economy, Governor Brown says, the $86 billion state budget he signed today is lower than any since 1973. There are massive cuts in core services. But Republicans refused to extend tax increases, and the deficit still required $12 billion in new revenues to be "balanced," as the constitution requires. Four billion of that is based on projections that wealthy taxpayers are doing better than anybody expected. Still more comes from so-called "use" taxes the state hopes to collect on Internet sales from companies like Amazon. Currently, those taxes depend on consumers, few of whom ever report online purchases. Another device is dismantling local redevelopment agencies and taking their money, but those agencies claim that's illegal because of Proposition 22 , approved by the voters last November. Will any of that money really materialize?
Politics and a Fragile Economy Los Angeles' Community College system is the biggest in the nation, and it's been the target of a week-long investigative series by the Los Angeles Times. Four of seven seats on the Board of Trustees are on the ballot citywide. We hear about those races, city council races and several local measures . We also get an update on the municipal and recall elections in the City of Bell.
Can We Afford to Rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were established to promote the American dream of home-ownership, by subsidizing mortgages backed by the federal government. When the housing bubble burst two years ago their risky loans left taxpayers on the hook for nearly a half-trillion dollars. The New York Times reports that in the first three months of this year, they took over a foreclosed home every 90 seconds, and they now own more homes than there are in the city of Seattle
Will Falling Housing Prices Kick-start the Real Estate Market? Home prices in Southern California continue to fall. In August, the median price dropped $18,000 to $330,000 — 34% lower than one year ago.
A Bailout the President Couldn't Refuse Many Republicans predicted worse catastrophes to come, but the Senate joined the House this weekend and passed a bill designed to rescue the faltering housing market. President Bush has promised to sign it, holding his nose because Treasury Secretary Paulson convinced him the economy can't do without it. Despite the promise of homeowner relief in an election year, 149 House Republicans voted "no." Forty-five went along. Is the bill a reward for risky investors at taxpayers' expense? Will backing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac end up costing hundreds of billions of dollars? Did de-regulation go too far? Would re-regulation make things better or worse? Is the US looking at a full-scale recession?
A Volatile Day in World Markets The Federal Reserve announced an emergency rate cut before the markets opened today, but the Dow Jones industrial average hit a 15-month low anyway. President Bush and Democratic leaders in Congress met to talk about a fiscal stimulus package. With falling prices, more and more California homeowners now owe more than their property’s market value, and foreclosures are breaking records .
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.
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.