California's unemployment rates: What can be done? Unreal! (credit card, to buy)

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

That would be a lot simpler than moving whole companies around, yes. You could find a job tomorrow here in NoVA. Perhaps one thing the government should consider is offering relocation grants or loans to unemployed workers.

No. The reason there are so many jobs in NoVA is that the Feds are hiring too much. No relocation grants and additional federal spending please.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

No. The reason there are so many jobs in NoVA is that the Feds are hiring too much. No relocation grants and additional federal spending please.

Doesn't matter the reason if there are jobs. Hey if you want to stay there and whine how it sucks, that's your choice. I'd be headed for greener pastures.

[Pretzelogik]

1. Return the state to a capitalist free enterprise system 2. Severe tort reform. 3. Regain control over public sector unions....end of story

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Pretzelogik

end of story

A story that won't end in your lifetime I'm afraid. Wouldn't it just make a whole lot more sense to go somewhere that already shares your values?

[beenhereandthere]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Well, I'm going to have to agree with you for once. Many unemployed are moving elsewhere. I have a lot of family relocating to Phoenix.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understans what UB50 is saying regarding the trade-off of taxes vs. income. When times are good, that makes perfect sense. In this economy however, businesses simply can't afford to pay a lot of taxes because with so many unemployed people, there won't be that much spending so business won't really do well.

Everyone likes to talk about Texas. Washington state is perhaps one of the best places to start a business. It has the lower taxes of Texas but a market more similar to California's. Just look at the businesses in Seattle for example; Nordstrom, Starbucks, Amazon.com, Costco and Microsoft to name a few.

With California's unemployment as high as it is we can get people jobs but we don't have enough people spending money to make opening a business here worth it right now.

This is true, but WA is a lot more similiar to CA than it is TX. So why is the UI sistuation in WA, average at worst (which is still bad compared to pre recession levels), but terrible in CA?

[CAVA1990]

Let's inject a little reality into the discussion. The states that are sucking the worst right now are the ones like CA, NV, FL, and AZ that had explosive growth over the past few years. They are all quite different politically so it's difficult to lay the blame on government. The problem is you had an avalanche of workers enter the state during an artificially pumped up job market. When things returned to "normal" levels you're left with too many people chasing the same number of jobs you had before the boom. You need to send some of that labor elsewhere. Believe me, nothing you can do right now is going to make enough new jobs. You have too many folks there.

[CalifornicateTexas]

Originally Posted by UB50

You know, I've always noticed something funny about these states that are ranked as "best places to start a business." The people doing the ranking usually look at the typical things like taxes, minimum wages, etc. The best states always end up being places like Florida, Nevada, Texas, etc. Places with low taxes and low regulation.

On the flip side of that, I see tons of businesses that open up here in California (which is usually ranked near the bottom of the places you want to start a business) and these businesses grow and thrive! Trader Joes, 99 Cent Only Stores, Zankow Chicken, Panda Express, Pinkberry, Craigslist, and that's just the few I thought up in a few seconds. If California was so awful for business, this would not be happening!

I've met at least one person on the Internet who had a thriving business in Orange County but got pissed off over the taxes he was having to pay. He sold his business and moved to another state where taxes were far lower -- but so was demand for his product. Would you rather pay taxes of 50% on $1,000,000 every month or taxes of 20% on $60,000 a month? People really need to think long and hard before they move if they are making good money in California. They may not be able to make the kind of $$$$ they made here in another state.

you the same guy who was fantasizing on how jerry brown could fix the economy a couple pages earlier in this thread? LOL

There will always be businesses started in CA. The businesses you mention are for the most part in retail and would provide service sector jobs. The jobs CA is losing are manufacturing/production jobs, those are the real jobs that create wealth and growth not only for CA but for the entire economy.

I suggest you go read an economics book, I suggested an econ book in the first page of this thread.

[CalifornicateTexas]

Originally Posted by beenhereandthere

This is true, but WA is a lot more similiar to CA than it is TX. So why is the UI sistuation in WA, average at worst (which is still bad compared to pre recession levels), but terrible in CA?

Isn't WA thinking about instituting a state income tax for the first time? or was that another state

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by CalifornicateTexas

The jobs CA is losing are manufacturing/production jobs, those are the real jobs that create wealth and growth not only for CA but for the entire economy.

That's pretty antiquated thinking. The only reason those jobs pay well is because of unions. Absent those, which have lost influence, low wage Mexicans would be able to do that kind of work. Knowledge work such as IT services, software development, Finance, and the professions are where the really money's at today. Forget about factories and figure out how to draw in more of those white collar jobs that uneducated immigrants can't do.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Let's inject a little reality into the discussion. The states that are sucking the worst right now are the ones like CA, NV, FL, and AZ that had explosive growth over the past few years. They are all quite different politically so it's difficult to lay the blame on government. The problem is you had an avalanche of workers enter the state during an artificially pumped up job market. When things returned to "normal" levels you're left with too many people chasing the same number of jobs you had before the boom. You need to send some of that labor elsewhere. Believe me, nothing you can do right now is going to make enough new jobs. You have too many folks there.

Other states, not at all like the ones you list, are sucking too. Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon, etc. all have unemployment in excess of 10% right now. Some - like Michigan, are experiencing a population decline and economic conditions have been weakening for years. It is easy to blame it on the automakers - and much of it is justified. But much of is due to state and Federal government overprotecting the unions and the industry. Michigan made no effort to diversify its economy. Nevada derives a huge percentage of its tax revenue from the gaming industry, which is suffering badly in the weak economy.

California's population grew 10.3% from 1999 to 2009. Texas' population grew 20.5% over the same period. Florida grew about 17% over that period. Texas added 4,224,082 people, California 3,492,460. It is interesting too if you look at the data that California has been losing domestic population ("net domestic immigration") for twenty years. The population in California is growing via births and international immigration.

Census data below:
State Population Data

California has a highly diverse economy, unlike Nevada. I think the common thread for high population growth states in trouble is a broken real estate/housing market. Overheated real estate, risky mortgages, speculative buying, followed by high foreclosures and loss of wealth and capital.

State governments CAN control:

- the size of the government, which ultimately drives the tax revenue needed to operate
- the tax revenue base - choose a tax structure more stable than not, and budgeting and government expenses are easier to manage
- its posture towards business, influenced by taxes, regulations, and labor policies
- its posture towards immigration, both legal and illegal