California’s personal income falls 3.5 percent

Not only do we have the worst education system in the U.S., we now have lower income:

 

Job loss pulls down state’s personal income level

California’s Education is Horrible

We Californians pay more than any other State in taxes. So, how is the below statistic even possible? There has to be something fundamentally wrong with our education system which gets 50% of the general fund revenues:

California remained at the bottom of the barrel in national test scores for reading, sharing last place with Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., according to the Nation’s Report Card released Wednesday.

Jobless claims fall by 14,000 to 442,000

Jobless claims fall by 14,000 to 442,000

Do Protests Work?

Yes, but those who yell the loudest will probably be cut the least!

Dan Walters: Protesters can’t alter fiscal facts

Two reasons to get a college degree

Cal’s medically uninsured ranks jump sharply

We were talking about adverse selection today. This will lead to more:

California’s severe economic recession has sharply expanded the ranks of its medically uninsured residents, a new statistical study by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research has found.

The study, based on enrollee data from private and public medical care programs, found that the uninsured under age 65 increased from 6.4 million in 2007 to 8.2 million last year, largely because of higher unemployment and cutbacks in employer-underwritten coverage. That’s nearly a quarter of the under-65 population of the state.

“These estimates help us understand the scale of the damage inflicted on California over the last two years,” Shana Alex Lavarreda, a co-author of the study, said in a statement. California has one of the nation’s highest uninsured rates – a factor attributed to its seasonal and diverse economy – and because of its size has more uninsured residents than any other state

The study was released as Congress wrests with President Barack Obama’s effort to expand coverage for the uninsured. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted several years ago to win legislative approval of a similar expansion of health coverage, but his measure died in the state Senate after approval by the Assembly. It was opposed by conservatives who disliked more government expansion and liberals who wanted a single-payer, government-operated program.

California exports continue sharp uptick

California exports continue sharp uptick

Exports through California ports continued their recent rebound in January, according to an analysis of new federal data by University of California trade analyst Jock O’Connell.

The value of exports through the state, $10.3 billion, was an 18.5 percent increase over the previous January and the third month of year-over-year increases. It was nearly identical to the nationwide increase in exports.

.”Even so, we are now just getting back to the level of exporting we were at in early 2007, before the global financial and economic crisis sent international trade spiraling down,” O’Connell said..

O’Connell said he anticipated continued export increases “if only because the economies of most of our major trading partners continue to expand,” but added, “The most worrisome prospect involves the risk of fall-out from the financial turmoil now gripping the European Union and especially those countries in the euro zone.”

Imports through California also showed a sharp increase, up 14.6 over the previous January to $23 billion.

California jobless rate 5th highest in U.S.

At least there is some good news:

For example, California reported the largest job gains, of 32,500, though its unemployment rate also rose. Illinois, New York, Washington state and Minnesota reported the next highest totals of new jobs.

California’s Higher Education Still a Good Deal

CNN Fact Check: How do California’s hikes in college costs stack up?

Why an education is important (not just more money)

As we learned in class today, each year of school adds 10% to your income. Here is another benefit to school.

From the WSJ:

The unemployment rate for all 45 to 54-year-olds, for example, was 8.4% in February — below the national average.

Education level	February Unemployment Rate	January Unemployment Rate
Less than a high school diploma	17.9%	17.6%
High school graduates	11.9%	11.5%
Associate Degree	6.6%	7.3%
Bachelor’s degree	5.9%	5.8%
Master’s degree	4.2%	4.4%
Doctoral degree	1.2%	1.9%