As economist Anil Puri addressed a gathering of policymakers, business leaders and academics, the former dean of the College of Business and Economics at Cal State Fullerton didn’t mince words when providing his in-depth analysis and three-year outlook for California’s economy at the recent Economic Forecast Conference.
Puri, who serves as director of the university’s Woods Center for Economic Forecasting, and economist Mira Farka, who serves as co-director, presented their forecast for global, U.S., California and Orange County economies on Oct. 30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine.
“The state’s problems are not isolated incidents; they are deeply interconnected,” said Puri and Farka. ”This nexus spans climate change, wildfires, high insurance costs, elevated oil prices, constrained energy supplies and strict environmental regulations.”
The state’s reputation as an economic powerhouse is under threat, Puri said, as evidenced by a wave of corporate departures and rising housing costs.
Many major companies, including Chevron, Oracle, Tesla, SpaceX and McKesson, have moved their headquarters out of California over the past three years, Puri noted.
The departures stem from significant regulatory burdens on the state’s businesses compared with the U.S. as a whole, Puri said.
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