This report assesses the question of whether or not business assistance living wage laws reduce jobs and economic development activity in the cities that choose to pass them.
In “The Economic Consequences of Proposed California Budget Cuts,” 1 we estimated the statewide economic impact of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010–2011 budget using IMPLAN 3.0, an industry-…
In this brief, we estimate the economic impact of Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2010–2011 budget. We further compare the economic impacts of these cuts with an alternative approach that mixes spending cuts with targeted revenue increases sufficient to avoid cuts in programs that bring in a federal match.
The State of California is in a severe fiscal crisis. The State faces difficult decisions in closing an estimated $20 billion budget gap for Fiscal Years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. How the state chooses to address this gap will have important implications for employment and the economy.
Our research finds that Wal-Mart store openings lead to the replacement of better paying jobs with jobs that pay less. Wal-Mart’s entry also drives wages down for workers in competing industry segments such as grocery stores.
When it comes to jobs and the economy, not all solutions to California’s estimated $20 billion budget shortfall are equal. Most measures designed to reduce the deficit can be expected to depress the state’s economy even further in the short term, but the magnitude of that impact will depend on which cuts are enacted.
