Will anyone listen to new controller?
What won what where
China is, by far, the biggest trading partner for the L.A. area, followed by Japan and South Korea. The first European Union country to even show up on the list is Germany, at Number 11. Spain is 36th in export traffic, and Greece is such a tiny player that it's lumped in the category "All Others." However, as I mentioned on this week's Business Update on KPCC, there's a big "but":
Lacter: Some of the big U.S. banks have strong connections with Europe, and if there is some sort of EU disaster, the contagion might spread. Here's another kind of indirect consequence: California's economy has been helped along during the recovery by increased exports to China, Russia, India, and Brazil - and it just so happens that those countries rely on European banks to finance many of their businesses. If that money is not available, it could present a problem. Just remember how growth slowed last year after the terrible Japanese earthquake - and that was a fairly contained event. A financial collapse won't be nearly as contained.
Also a look at the conflicting reports on whether the state's film tax credit program has been a net plus or minus for California's economy. Available at kppc.org and on podcast (Business Update with Mark Lacter)