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The report analyzes the Southern California and national “Trade and Goods Movement” industry, related infrastructure projects, and related issues such as real estate needed for industry growth.  The report delves into the specifics of LA County’s top international trading partners, including a forecast for economic activity related to trade.  The report also provides analysis of employment related to this key piece of the Los Angeles County regional economy.  

States and state-equivalents spending the most per pupil in 2013 were New York ($19,818), Alaska ($18,175), the District of Columbia ($17,953), New Jersey ($17,572) and Connecticut ($16,631). States spending the least per pupil included Utah ($6,555), Idaho ($6,791), Arizona ($7,208), Oklahoma ($7,672) and Mississippi ($8,130).

“This paper demonstrates that even the complete elimination of state GHG emissions will have no measurable effect on climate change risks unless Cali- fornia-style policies are widely adopted throughout the United States, and particularly in other countries that now generate much larger GHG emissions. As California Governor Jerry Brown, a staunch proponent of climate change policies, recently observed, “We can do things in California, but if others don’t follow, it will be futile.” . . . Nevertheless, the extent to which California’s GHG policies have and may be likely to inspire similar measures in other locations, is rarely, if ever seri- ously evaluated by state lawmakers or the California judiciary. Absent such considerations, imposing much more substantial GHG mandates may not only fail to inspire complementary actions in other locations, but could even result in a net increase in GHG emissions should population and economic activity move to locations with much higher GHG emission rates than California. “

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Local government authority is growing in corrections, school funding, and other areas in California, putting pressure on localities to diversify revenue sources. As a result, the parcel tax may become an increasingly important fiscal tool in the state.

To develop a vision and policies for moving a greater share of state transportation dollars to projects and outcomes that are more cost-effective and better aligned with environmental goals, a group of transportation advocates, experts and public officials gathered at the University of California, Los Angeles in October 2014 for a discussion sponsored by the University of California Berkeley and Los Angeles Schools of Law.

The unique nature of the recovery – as well as a better understanding of pre-existing negative trends – presents clear cause for concern. Shrinking labor mobility and participation rates, stagnant wages, and a steady decline in new business formation are serious structural challenges that were exposed – and exacerbated – by the recession, contributing to one of the weakest recoveries in the past several decades.

A report released today from the National University System Institute for Policy Research (NUSIPR) found that California’s lack of strategic coordination on energy policies is increasing energy costs in San Diego, hurting key industries, and burdening residents who are struggling to balance household budgets. The report entitled San Diego: Energy, the Economy and the Call for Pause encouraged policymakers to understand how energy policies impact costs, and consider whether the new mandates are fostering a more sustainable, cost-effective energy system.

Cap-and-Trade revenues are primarily being spent in the southern Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. Though there are clear guidelines for geographically allocating 25% of the Cap-and-Trade revenues, clear guidelines have not been established to geographically allocate the remaining 75%. This report outlines three potential principles for allocating the remaining funds geographically

Living in decent, affordable, and reasonably located housing is vitally important to every Californian. Unfortunately, housing in California is extremely expensive and, as a result, many households are forced to make serious trade-offs in order to live here. While many factors have a role in driving California’s high housing costs, the most important is the significant shortage of housing in the state’s highly coveted coastal communities. We advise the Legislature to address this housing shortfall by changing policies to facilitate significantly more private home and apartment building in California’s coastal urban communities.

These data show that California needs to address significant, and growing social priorities, including significant improvement in adult educational rates at the high school and post-secondary level, increasing employment opportunities at a rate sufficient to serve past and forecast population growth, and reducing the state’s inequality and very high poverty rates.

In 2014 teacher pension systems had a total of a half trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities — a debt load that climbed more than $100 billion in just the last two years. Across the states, an average of 70 cents of every dollar contributed to state teacher pension systems goes toward paying off the ever-increasing pension debt, not to future teacher benefits.

Further, a lack of comprehensive demographic data prevents us from concluding whether the solar initiative and the decal program have served a diverse population of Californians. However, the limited demographic data that does exist shows that participants in the solar initiative’s General Market Program tend to be largely older, wealthier, and have received more education than most California homeowners. . . With respect to the decal program’s capacity to appeal to a diverse population, a recent consumer survey for a related incentive program for low-emission vehicles found that, although the ages of respondents are somewhat evenly distributed, most respondents were male and earned $100,000 or more per year.

The Master Plan for Higher Education in California, produced in 1960, was a visionary document for its time, but must be updated to reflect the changed economic, demographic and financial environment of the current century. California’s economic future will depend on the outcome.

The growing skills gap is one of the most persistent challenges a”ecting thriving and lagging state economies—the disparity between the skills companies need to drive growth and innovation versus the skills that actually exist within their organizations and in the labor market. This disconnect, expected to grow substantially as the boomer generation retires, causes workers and companies to miss out on realizing their full potential. A sizable skills gap impacts virtually every aspect of the economy, thereby affecting our national competitiveness and, in turn, causing the economy to fall short of its potential.