IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Despite what you might see on the news or read online, California is not worst state in which to do business, and the state’s economy is not about to slide into the Pacific Ocean.
That was the message delivered Thursday by economist Chris Thornberg at the 7th Annual Inland Southern California Economic Forecast Conference, which was held at the Riverside Convention Center.
Thornberg, director of UC Riverside’s Center for Economic Forecasting and Development, told an audience of about 500 business and public officials that the local, state and national economies are doing far better than much of the media would have you believe.
“The consensus we’re getting on the economy these days is all gloom and doom,” Thornberg said. “I have one word to describe it: miserablism, which means people who are always trying to convince you how terrible everything is when it really isn’t.”
Thornberg listed the litany of criticisms often aimed at both the state and national economy: jobs being lost to rival economies, stagnant middle class wages, creeping secularism, etc.
“Yes, we have issues with the economy, but to say that everything is falling apart is nonsense,” Thornberg said. “GDP is up, incomes are up, unemployment is down, and there is no financial bubble.
“The chances of the economy sliding into a recession anytime soon are practically zero.”
Locally, the Inland Empire is doing well, with the logistics industry strong, housing on the mend and household income up in both counties, said Robert Kleinhenz, director of research at the economic forecasting center.
The Inland Empire’s most daunting challenge will be accommodating the anticipated 1.2 million in population growth that is expected to happen here over the next 20 years or so, Kleinhenz said.
“That’s like adding a city the size of New Orleans,” Kleinhenz said.
