Joel Discusses California’s Budget Situation on NPR’s All Things Considered
All Things Considered
From NPR:
“California is arguably the most important state in the union. It accounts for 13 percent of America’s gross domestic product, and on its own, the state would be one of the 10 biggest economies in the world. That raises the question: Can America’s economy bounce back without a Golden State rebound?
Not So Golden Anymore
The answer to that question is murky, says Joel Kotkin, a California scholar and author of the book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050.
“You could have a recovery that takes place elsewhere and California sort of brings up the rear, [but] I don’t see how California is going to lead the recovery, particularly given the change in Congress,” Kotkin tells Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz.
With Republicans running the House, he says, it is much less likely that California will get funding for the “green” projects that the Obama administration has promised. High-speed rail and major research initiatives will probably have to be scaled down.
“So California is going to be out of sync with the rest of the country for the next few years, and that’s going to be a major challenge,” Kotkin says.
Although the state has overcome major recessions before — from the decline of the defense industry to the tech bubble — Kotkin warns that it might not be so easy this time.
“California still has enormous assets, and I still think it is the best piece of property in the United States in terms of climate, fertility, the mix of people,” Kotkin says. “But I think that we cannot take for granted that California will continue to be a leader in the next 10 to 15 years.””
