The Chamber of Commerce provides news and information for a variety of sources that may be of interest to the membership. Sources include the Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Business Journal, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others. Click on the headline to read the entire story from the original source. The story is in bold, our comments unbolded.
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The New York Times gives a nice round-up of the top stories of the previous week:
The Moral Ambiguity of Looting
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
The unsettled ethics of pillaging after a catastrophe acquired a new wrinkle in Chile, where some frightened citizens were allowed to take needed staples.
Democrats Need a Rally Monkey
By KATE ZERNIKE
For months the right has had the momentum. Is the left too “snakebit” to snatch it back?
‘Mad as a Hatter’: The History of a Simile
By PAT RYAN
Pity Lewis Carroll’s poor Hatter. Why not “mad as a shoemaker”?
How Jerry Brown Became ‘Governor Moonbeam’
By JESSE McKINLEY
Jerry Brown’s unshakable nickname was coined by Mike Royko, the famed Chicago columnist, in 1976.
The Los Angeles Times reports resistance to efforts by The gas Company to install smart meters.
Battle heats up over Southern California Gas smart meter proposal
SoCalGas says the radio-controlled meters will help customers save money. But critics denounce the plan as a boondoggle, contending the costs far outweigh the benefits.
Apparently there is a healthy discussion about whether the meters are necessary and if they are cost-effective for the customer.
And our unemployment numbers remain dismally high:
California unemployment reaches 12.5% in January
The jobless rate tops 20% in some counties, suggesting ‘no relief . . . for a few months,’ one economist says.
And our gasoline costs may be going up as oil companies cut back on how much is refined.
Oil companies look at permanent refinery cutbacks
The response to slumping gasoline use would likely mean higher prices for drivers. Consumer advocates want regulators to examine the firms’ plan
But manufacturing seems to be picking up in the U.S.
Recovery emerging from U.S. factories
Manufacturing booms, but its importance to the overall economy has diminished.
Eugenio Alicea, left, and his brother Ezequiel prepare to laminate sheets of glass at Flickinger Glassworks in Brooklyn. Manufacturing’s share of the economy dropped to 11.5% in 2008 from 21% in 1979. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News /March 2, 2010)
By Don Lee
March 10, 2010
Reporting from Washington – Improbable as it seems, the brightest spot so far in the nation’s spotty economic recovery is a sector long considered all but dead — good-old-fashioned manufacturing.
While our national U.S. Chamber of Commerce grows in political clout (and sophistication):
U.S. Chamber of Commerce grows into a political force
A swelling tide of money could put the business group in a better position to sway elections.
The Pasadena Star-News reports that, in California, growing unease about greenhouse gas reduction legislation is bolstered by a Legislative Analyst report that hints action now to reduce environmental impacts could further would the state’s economy:
Review bolsters Republican claims on controversial bill
From Staff and Wire Reports
Posted: 03/09/2010
SACRAMENTO – The state’s landmark global-warming law likely will lead to modest job losses in the near future, according to a nonpartisan review that bolsters a growing Republican movement to shelve climate regulations until the economy recovers.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office said it has determined businesses will face higher electricity and fuel prices as well as costly investments to improve building and heating standards. However, it did not calculate average costs to businesses or say how many jobs might be lost.
The findings were included in a letter the analyst’s office sent to Sen. Dave Cogdill, a Modesto Republican who has been critical of the law. He released the 10-page letter Tuesday.
The news wasn’t exactly a surprise to Republicans and many businesses, who have argued against the legislation – Assembly Bill 32 – from the outset.
“It’s obvious to us, and to anybody who takes a rational look, that this … is going to increase costs on businesses and residents,” said Curt Hagman, a Republican whose district spans from Chino Hills to La Habra.
Equally obvious should be the need to somehow address climate change in a meaningful way that allows California to avoid being penalized for leadership in addressing the issue. That would seem to mean climate change needs to be addressed on a national level, or even a global level, in a way that creates fair standards and uniform reduction targets across state lines.
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