This piece originally appeared at Forbes.
As its economy bounced back from the Great Recession, California emerged as a progressive role model, with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman arguing that the state’s “success” was proof of the superiority of a high tax, high regulation economy. Some have even embraced the notion that California should secede to form its own more perfect union. Read more
This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.
In its race against rapidly aging Europe and East Asia, America’s relatively vibrant nurseries have provided some welcome demographic dynamism. Yet, in recent years, notably since the Great Recession and the weak recovery that followed, America’s birthrate has continued to drop, and is now at a record low. Read more
This article first appeared in the The Orange County Register.
California’s economic revival has sparked widespread notions, shared by Jerry Brown and observers elsewhere, that its economy — and policy agenda — should be adopted by the rest of the country. And, to be sure, the Golden State has made a strong recovery in the last five years, but this may prove to be far more vulnerable than its boosters imagine. Read more
This piece first appeared on Forbes.
As the country moves toward full employment, at least as economists define it, the quality of jobs has replaced joblessness as the primary concern. With wages still stagnant, rising an anemic 2.5% in the year to May, the biggest challenge for most parts of the U.S. is not getting more people into the workforce but rather driving the creation of the types of jobs that can sustain a middle-class quality of life.
This article first appeared in The Orange County Register.
Amazon’s stunning acquisition last week of Whole Foods signaled an inflection point in the development of retail, notably the $800 billion supermarket sector. The massive shift of retail to the web is beginning to claw into the last remaining bastions of physical space. In the last year alone, 50,000 positions were lost in the retail sector, and as many as 6 million jobs could be vulnerable nationwide in the long term. Store closings are running at a rate higher than during the Great Recession.
Yet, there’s an opportunity opening for cities and regions to take advantage of new space for churches, colleges, warehouse space and, most importantly, housing. Read more
This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Expanding mass-transit systems is a pillar of green and “new urbanist” thinking, but with few exceptions, the idea of ever-larger numbers of people commuting into an urban core ignores a major shift in the labor economy: More people are working from home.
This article originally appeared at The Daily Beast.
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” —Justice Louis Brandeis
With his $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has made clear his determination to dominate every facet of mass retailing, likely at the cost of massive layoffs in the $800 billion supermarket sector.
This article first appeared on Forbes.
Throughout the dismal presidential campaign, the plight of America’s manufacturing sector played a central role. Yet despite all the concerns raised about factory jobs leaving the country, all but 18 of the country’s 70 largest metropolitan regions have seen an uptick in industrial employment since 2011. And despite the slowdown in car sales, the job count continues to expand, albeit more slowly. Read more
Excerpt from an article that first appeared in the OC Register.
If you listen to California’s many boosters, things have never been so good. And, to be sure, since 2011, the state appears to have gained its economic footing, and outperformed many of its rivals.
Some, such as Los Angeles Magazine and Bloomberg, claim that it is California — not the bumbling Trump regime — that is “making America great again.” California, with 2 percent job growth in 2016, gained jobs more rapidly than most states. The growth rate was about equal to Texas and Colorado, but behind such growth centers as Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah and the District of Columbia. Read more
This article first appeared in Cleveland.com
CLEVELAND — It was all about middle America at a City Club of Cleveland forum entitled, “The New American Heartland,” held at the Global Center for Health Innovation.
The big draw was author J.D. Vance, whose book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” is in its 41st week on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Vance delivered a keynote address and was then followed by Michael Lind, co-founder of New America, who talked about an optimistic report he helped write called, “The New American Heartland: Renewing the Middle Class by Revitalizing Middle America.”
The “New American Heartland,” as defined in the report, extends from the Great Lakes and the upper Great Plains to the Gulf of Mexico, and is viewed by the report authors as the region that will drive the nation’s economy going forward.
The forum concluded with a panel discussion by economic development experts from around the country.
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Fred Murphy, used under CC 2.0 License
