XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.democrats, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: boinked@easynews.com   
      
   Last week, California governor Gavin Newsom gave an upbeat State of the   
   State speech. There are two major problems with Newsom’s assessment that   
   belie California’s significant economic weaknesses.   
   One is that Newsom’s own prioritized policy issues—housing and   
   homelessness—have worsened significantly since he became governor. The   
   continuation of poorly designed state land-use policies is an important   
   reason why these problems keep getting worse over time.   
      
    The second is that there are remarkable differences between the   
   governor’s very favorable economic view of the state and the state’s   
   economic statistics, which highlight the extreme economic challenges that   
   most households living here face each day. California continues to be near   
   the bottom in the rankings of all states in terms of traffic congestion,   
   poverty, school performance, air and water quality, infrastructure, and,   
   as I describe below, housing costs.   
      
   Newsom waxed glowingly about California’s economy to the point of   
   dismissing the importance of national economic strength in the California   
   economy, and instead arguing that California is the driver of the US   
   economy:   
      
   “California is the rocket fuel powering America’s resurgence. . . . . When   
   you hear the boasts, bleats, and tweets of Washington politicians tripping   
   over themselves to take credit for the economy, remember the real VIPs of   
   America’s GDP—the millions of California workers, investors and   
   entrepreneurs. . . . Just consider this fact: 1 in 7 new jobs created by   
   the US economy since 2010 has been created right here in California.”   
      
   Let’s parse this. California is home to about 12 percent of the   
   population, so the state should be creating about 1 in 8 new jobs in any   
   case. The reason why employment growth looks a bit better than that since   
   2010 is that California had the worst recession of any major state, losing   
   nearly one million jobs between 2008 and 2010. In fact, California’s job   
   loss accounted for about 25 percent of the nation’s job loss during this   
   period.   
      
   By choosing the year 2010, Newsom’s dating of California’s job growth   
   makes California’s job performance look as good as it can be. But much of   
   this growth since 2010 was about restoring the enormous number of jobs   
   lost during the last recession.   
      
   More recently, California’s job growth is far below the national average.   
   Year over year, California’s employment has increased just .1 percent,   
   whereas it is up 1.5 percent in the rest of the country. Put differently,   
   if California was performing as well as the rest of the country’s economy,   
   California would have added about 300,000 jobs in the last year, not just   
   30,000. California is among the lowest ranking states in the country in   
   terms of job creation.   
      
   One reason California is underperforming compared with the rest of the   
   country is that Californians are moving to other states. California is now   
   so expensive that it is becoming unlivable for low- and middle-income   
   households, many of whom are leaving for Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and   
   Nevada.   
      
   Housing is a major factor pushing many Californians out the door. Newsom   
   did not mention that California is 49th in the country in terms of housing   
   affordability; nor did he mention that only about 20 percent of California   
   households can afford the median-priced home, which is now over $600,000;   
   nor did he mention that California’s poverty rate is highest among all 50   
   states.   
      
   About a year ago, in his inauguration speech, Newsom made housing and   
   homelessness his major policy priorities. He proposed to create a   
   “Marshall Plan” for housing by building 3.5 million new housing units by   
   2025.   
      
   What has happened in the last year? Housing is even less affordable today   
   than it was when Newsom took office. As far as a “Marshall Plan” for   
   housing goes, there was less new housing built last year than in the   
   previous two years. The idea that the state will create 3.5 million new   
   units by 2025 is completely unrealistic. On a per-capita basis, only Utah   
   is building less housing than California.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)