The Business Perspective

Carmaggedon isn’t a Hollywood movie, but it is sure to be this summer’s blockbuster – literally. Block by block, streets all over the Westside will be jammed this ...

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The new Tom Bradley International Terminal was a source of pride for Los Angeles as we welcomed the world to the 1984 Olympics. That was 27 years ago — enough time for 1 billion passengers to fly in and out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Time also extracted a major toll on the facilities, so did delays caused by lawsuits and a lack of commitment by elected officials. Some observers were convinced that the politics of Los Angeles would doom LAX to third world status forever.

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Anyone with a basic understanding of economics knew long ago where the unsustainable public employee pension system was headed. And last year, City of Los Angeles Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana painted a frightening picture of the severe financial crisis facing the City as the cost of pensions and health care for retirees continue to rise. Despite that, public officials, who were too afraid of public employee union backlash, stuck their heads in the sand.

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Los Angeles' business community has been clamoring for citywide development reform for so long that no one remembers what it's like to build a construction project without a sea of red tape. The City of Los Angeles has produced at least 100 reports on development reform in the last 40 years and not a single one of those reports has been fully implemented.

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Pirates aren't what they used to be. No longer content with sailing the seven seas, they're now entering
 the open waters of the Internet, searching for new sources of stolen treasure. With a few clicks of a mouse or taps on an iPad, one can find thousands of movies, song recordings and full-featured video games available to download at little to no cost. Sadly, many computer users downloading copyrighted content aren't even aware that they are trafficking in stolen property. 

While a pirate of the Internet might conjure up the image of a mischievous hacker with a gleam in his or her eye, Internet piracy is no laughing matter. With Los Angeles the entertainment capital of the world, we're highly susceptible to feeling the economic effects of piracy. The entertainment industry generates nearly $1.5 trillion, roughly 11 percent of America’s gross domestic product, according to Paramount Pictures COO Frederick Huntsberry. With an estimated 17 percent of Internet traffic infringing on copyrighted material, all Angelenos have a stake in this thievery.  


 

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June 15 is D-Day for the California Legislature. It’s the Constitutional deadline for passing a balanced state budget. And it is an opportunity to pull our State out of the financial and economic morass we find ourselves in today.

Financial deadlines usually force people out of their comfort zones and give them an urgency to act. Gov. Jerry Brown and members of the Legislature should use the June 15 deadline as an opportunity to put a financial workout plan into place for California. 

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Yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day. Many of us had the day off while thousands of men and women in uniform were on active duty around the world protecting the freedom of our great nation and other people around the world. We owe our freedom and the opportunities we have today to the veterans who have served and protected our nation in the past and to the young men and women who are serving today. 

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As a way to achieve State mandates for waste reduction and recycling, as well as generate more revenue, the City of Los Angeles is considering a major overhaul of how trash is collected for commercial and multi-family properties by instituting a franchise system. Neighboring cities have instituted franchise systems and the County of Los Angeles has started the process to move toward a non-exclusive franchise system. But that’s where the similarities between this trend and the City’s proposal end.


 



 

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Yesterday, Gov. Jerry Brown released his revised state budget that proposes the elimination of 43 various departments, commissions and task forces in an effort to help close California’s budget deficit. Much of that streamlining will improve efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. However, there is one new department that state lawmakers should actually create in this climate — a new Agency for Economic Development, Job Creation and Competitiveness.  

California has the dubious distinction of being one of the few — perhaps only — states without an agency to help compete for and provide assistance to job creating employers. Other states, including competitors like New York, Arizona, Texas and Nevada all have state agencies that focus like a laser beam on economic development. These agencies coordinate efforts to recruit California businesses through incentives, but just as important is their role in helping existing companies within their state to grow and expand by cutting through red tape at the state level. 

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Exports are the key to putting America back on track in the global economy. Only 1 percent of U.S. companies are exporting. Yet with more than 1 billion new global middle class consumers expected over the next 15 years, U.S. businesses will have market opportunities unparalleled in human history. The challenge is to seize this moment by implementing a national export strategy that will truly lift all boats...

 

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