Inland Empire Outlook Fall 2013 Issue

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INLAND Clouds on the Horizon EMPIRE W OUTLOOK

Photo Credit: Phil Roeder

e begin this issue of the Inland Empire Outlook by examining the looming crisis of unfunded pension liabilities (p. 2). Recent reports indicate that at least 34 states failed to contribute the necessary amounts to fund promised pensions in the past year. We examine the factors contributing to this situation and note that recent changes in accounting rules may add more cities and states to the list.

Economic and Political Analysis Volume IV | Issue 2 | Fall 2013

Pension Liabilities Loom Large pg. 2-7 Raising Minimum Wages Means More Teens Out of Work pg. 8-13 Stuck in Second Gear pg. 14-19 Colton Crossing: A Model for PublicPrivate Partnerships pg. 20-23

CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE Claremont, California INLANDEMPIRECENTER.COM

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that will raise the minimum wage in California to $9/hour in July 2014 and to $10/hour in January 2016. We survey the research on minimum wage increases, analyze data on the relationship between minimum wage increases and teenage unemployment, and conclude that the California increase is likely to result in higher teenage unemployment (p. 8). Our analysis of the latest economic data shows a recovery that is limping along (p. 14). Although the U.S. unemployment rate dropped slightly from 7.4% to 7.3% in July 2013, it is not because people found jobs. The main reason the unemployment rate dropped is because people stopped looking for them. Locally, the Inland Empire housing market is also stuck in second gear, with total home sales virtually unchanged from 2011 to 2012. Finally, we examine the successful use of a public-private partnership to build a railway overpass at Colton Crossing, relieving congestion at a busy rail intersection (p. 20). On October 9, 2013, the Inland Empire Center, in partnership with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, will hold the eighth CMC-UCLA Inland Empire Forecast Conference at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario. Jerry Nickelsburg of UCLA Anderson Forecast will present the national and state national forecast, Professor Manfred Keil of CMC will present the Inland Empire forecast. The conference will also feature panels on Healthcare and the Affordable Care Act in the Inland Empire and Industry Reactions to the Forecast. Major sponsors of the conference include Citizens Business Bank, Oremor Automotive Group, the Lewis Group of Companies, the Redevelopment Agency for the County of Riverside, and the City of Ontario. We at the CMC Inland Empire Center hope you find this edition of Inland Empire Outlook a useful guide. Please visit our website, www.inlandempirecenter.org, for updates to these stories and other Inland Empire news. -The Editors


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