The COVID-19 outbreak is decimating the global economy with company shutdowns and soaring unemployment. But in its aftermath, the world must be ready to rebound
On Thursday, June 26th, the Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors committed the agency to building an intermodal light rail, bus and tramway station to
California is on the verge of a major political opportunity – if only the state can seize it. With Kevin McCarthy’s election to Majority Leader
Ever since the city of Stockton issued bonds as a means of paying off its pension debt in 2007, it has been in a slow,
The recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement by Rhythm and Hues Studios occurred on the eve of an Oscars they not only won an Academy Award
As Texas Governor Rick Perry stumps around California attempting to recruit businesses to the Lone Star State, he brings an underlying message: Texas is better
Originally posted on the Milken Institute Currency of Ideas blog The decision of Stockton, Calif. to consider bankruptcy has had ramifications throughout the state. The
Over the past few weeks, the Obama administration has
been touting initiatives in the Small Business Jobs Act,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and other legislation passed in
2009 and 2010 as a sign that it is pro-business, and in particular, pro-small
business.
Here at the Milken Institute, we’ve repeatedly noted
that small business is an essential component of any economic recovery. From
the first quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, businesses with 50 or
fewer employees shed a staggering 2.9 million jobs. While small businesses are hiring
again, they are not doing so at a rate nearly fast enough to reach their
pre-recession level any time soon. Still, while White House efforts in this
area have been solid, the single greatest remaining concern among small
businesses persists: the lack of access to credit.
The issue of credit for small business is not simply a
matter of business as usual; it’s actually a key impediment to hiring. During
the financial realignment that took place during the Great Recession, small
businesses saw significant constraints placed on two of their most important
means of accessing revolving credit: credit cards and real estate equity. While
the equity issue is a direct consequence of the collapse of the housing bubble,
the slashing of credit lines attached to business credit cards has had a more
profound impact.
There are very few industries in California that not only drive the
state’s economy but make up a seminal part of its identity. The
entertainment business fits that bill-and from an economic standpoint,
the most significant part of the industry is production, whether the
medium is feature films, television or commercials.
But California’s employment base in film production has been eroding
for more than a decade. Between 1997 and 2008, the state lost more than
10,000 direct jobs in the industry and 25,000 more indirect jobs; all
told, that’s a loss of $2.4 billion in wages and $4.2 billion in real
output.
Although these losses pale in comparison to California’s overall
unemployment numbers, they’re still significant because they represent
an ongoing structural erosion, not just collateral damage from the
recession. And the losses haven’t been limited to Los Angeles.
California has also been bleeding post-production jobs in specialties
such as special effects and animation, trends that have had a big
impact in Silicon Valley and other parts of Northern California.