Bay Area Real Estate Trends

As we edge closer to issuing coveted IOUs, the spin cycle is out in full force. A report was issued showing that CEOs at the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the recession started earned an average of $12 million. I guess the recovery will depend on who you are asking.

A lot of California state employees are going to start getting more three-day weekends again.

California is doomed for two simple but profound reasons: the cost structure is too high for most businesses to survive, and a boom-dependent economy. The dysfunctions crippling California would easily fill a volume: a dysfunctional Legislature that has been gerrymandered to protect virtually every seat; a dysfunctional proposition system which enables special interests to craft [...]

Even in the good times, BART was losing money. It’s not hard to figure out why…BART employees make an absolute fortune, paid for not only by riders, but by taxpayers through State and Federal subsidies. Nothing new here…just another example of how unions got too greedy during the boom years and are now unwilling to [...]

California’s budget is an absolute train wreck. 2009 was bad. 2010 will be worse. From The Sacramento Bee Schwarzenegger declares budget emergency, proposes deep cuts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an $82.9 billion state spending plan today that calls for no tax hikes but envisions pay cuts for state workers, reductions in services to California’s neediest [...]

California’s Budget Battle in 2009 was nasty. This coming year, expect even more drama. Oh…and expect drama for the next decade too. IOU’s? Bank on it. More State Employee Layoffs? It’s in the bag. More School Cuts? You Bet. Legalized Marijuana? The talk with get much more serious in the next year or two. Bankruptcy? [...]