An economist rejected suggestions of a looming recession during a wide-ranging presentation Monday in Santa Maria, where attendees also received a sneak peek at a regional group’s efforts to bring high-paying jobs to the Central Coast.
Christopher Thornberg from Beacon Economics spoke Monday at the 2020 Economic Forecast event hosted by the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce and Aera Energy at Allan Hancock College’s Severson Theatre.
Before Thornburg, Melissa James from the Hourglass Project revealed a small section of the regional economic development collaborative’s soon-to-be-released plan.
Thornberg’s presentation included a contention the economy is relatively healthy, saying a misunderstanding of the circumstances is leading to bad outcomes.
“We’re not going to have a recession,” he said. “The quality of life is improving. It’s improving in the nation. It’s improving in the state. It’s improving right here on the Central Coast. Americans have never had it so good.”
Labor union representatives in the audience questioned some of his presentation, but Thornberg rejected the challenge saying “Shrieking hysteria doesn’t get anybody anywhere.”
He also maintained that housing supply is a bigger issue than housing costs and called for higher density as the best solution, not rent control or inclusionary housing rules.
Still, he said, challenges exist, including labor shortages where too many jobs lack workers to fulfill the roles, political uncertainties and more.
“It’s time to walk in and remind our political leaders that politics is the art of compromise,” Thornberg said.
Glenn Morris, Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, said Monday’s session aimed to shine the light on how the state could pursue new forms of energy and traditional oil production.
“What does that demand look like? How do they play together as we really try to find a balanced approach moving forward?” he said.
Thornberg’s firm created a report for Aera Energy looking at demand and production in the state.
“Global warning is created by the consumption of fossil fuels, not the production of fossil fuels,” Thornberg told the crowd Monday.
While output from California has fallen, he said that has meant an increased reliance on oil imported from overseas, where fewer environmental regulations exist and makes the United States more vulnerable to the whims of pricing.
“You wipe out oil in California, what do you do? You’re more dependent on foreign oil,” Thornberg said. He called for development of wind farms, solar farms and other renewable energy.
Monday’s event began with a sneak peak by Melissa James from the Hourglass Project, a regional economic development collaborative spanning from Camp Roberts in Northern San Luis Obispo County to Vandenberg Air Force Base in mid-Santa Barbara County.
The Hourglass Project’s jobs creation action plan, dubbed the Reach 2030 Summit, will be unveiled during a meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. March 16 at The Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave., in Arroyo Grande.
“This regional approach is really just a new way of addressing old problems or challenges that we know about,” James said.
“What we’re offering to the region is a way in which we can address these things together and we’re already starting to see a lot of that success,” she added.
One key focus, involving the state, looks to capitalize on the new generation of commercial space projects by crafting a master plan to call for funding from the state, federal government and private firms, along with identifying tax breaks or incentives.
Florida and Virginia have state agencies to foster the aerospace industries, while California does not, she said.
“These are all the types of things that we’re focusing on, and what’s really exciting is for the first time the state of California is very, very engaged in the conversation,” she said.
Longtime residents will remember the Central Coast-led effort to form the California Space Authority to promote aerospace in the state. However, that organization became defunct in 2011 after nearly 10 years.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.