No, California Is Not the World’s Fourth Largest Economy

By Marc Joffe
04/05/2023
Boasting of his state’s robust economic growth, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently declared that “California’s values and entrepreneurial spirit have powered this ascent to becoming the 4th biggest economy in the world.” Not so fast. California elected officials frequently cite the Golden State’s position in global economic rankings, comparing the size of the state’s economy...

TAGS: economic growth, economics, economy, Finance, Government Finance

The Impact of Record Debt on Investments

By Michael Lebowitz
02/15/2017
Editor’s Note: This analysis by economic strategist Michael Lebowitz joins three other articles of his that we published last year, all of them warning of unsustainable growth in investments. For over forty years the United States has been on a debt binge, trading long-term, sustainable growth for growth fueled by debt accumulation. In this article, Lebowitz...

TAGS: economic growth, pension fund solvency

Why are the Economy and Incomes Growing So Slowly?

By Bill Fletcher
10/28/2016
Why are so many people unhappy and angry?  Why is the electorate turning to populist candidates like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump?  Why are they so mad at the Washington D.C. establishment?  What’s the problem? This is the second in a series of articles.  The first dealt with the fact that the cost of health...

TAGS: economic growth

Where's Genuine Economic Growth Going to Come From?

By Martin Hutchinson
09/22/2014
“We wanted flying cars, and they gave us 140 characters,” said venture capitalist Peter Thiel in 2011. He put his finger on a central dilemma of the New Economy: its innovations can make money (usually through redirecting advertising sales), but they add little or nothing to the overall stock of human knowledge or long-term happiness....

TAGS: economic growth, financialization, Peter Thiel