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Planning Economic Growth

August 1, 2007 / By Daniel Flaming
Underwriter: Economic Roundtable
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There are at least three reasons why it has become important for Los Angeles to exert purposeful influence on its own economic trajectory:Planning_Economic_Growth_img_01

  1. The population has grown steadily but the number of jobs in the formal economy, where employers comply with labor law, is still below the level of 1990.
  2. The underground economy, operating outside the reach of government regulation, has become LA’s growth engine.
  3. Incomes are deeply polarized – a quarter of the labor force is working poor.

We should envision an economic strategy as:

  • A comprehensive plan to provide sustainable employment for residents
  • A long-term, fact-based plan for community and regional industry growth
  • Not just project-specific development, although this is important

How public risks in investing economic development or job training funds in an industry be weighed against potential benefits that might result from those investments?

  • Seven critical questions can be asked to assess the level of risk for public funds
  • Fifteen public tools, ranging from very cautious to very aggressive, can be employed based on the level of risk in an industry
  • A matrix matching risk levels with public strategies identifies types of public engagement that may be prudent given the risks and opportunities an industry presents for producing labor market benefits

At best Los Angeles will give gentle nudges to its economy. Its challenge is to achieve a discernible and constructive impact on the economy.

Photo by Simon Cunningham (LendingMemo), "Economic growth stock photo". Image credit LendingMemo.com; photograph uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on December 29, 2018, taken on November 19, 2018. Protected by the CC BY 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not changed this image, and does not suggest the licensor endorses our use of it.

Photo by Simon Cunningham (LendingMemo), “Economic growth stock photo“. Image credit LendingMemo.com; photograph uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on December 29, 2018, taken on November 19, 2018. Protected by the CC BY 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not changed this image, and does not suggest the licensor endorses our use of it.

 

Area of Work: Economy
Tags: Comprehensive Plan, Economic Growth, Economic Impacts, Economic Strategy, Economy, Employment, Fact Based Plan, Industry Growth, Informal Economy, Investment, Job Creation, Job Quality, Jobs, Labor, Labor Market, Los Angeles, Planning, Polarization, Public Costs, Public Risk, Risk, Strategy, Sustainability, Wages, Work