Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Small Business and Economic Development Workshop

Congressman McNerney is hosting a Small Business and Economic Development Workshop at Pacific on the afternoon of March 1. (I confirmed too late to be included in this notice.)

I will be speaking about the San Joaquin County economic situation and offerring a few brief thoughts on what the path out of this mess could look like. Of course, I will also use the opportunity to briefly give the Congressman some free advice in person. The other panelists will have more practical advice to help small business succeed. Looking forward to the event.

5 comments:

  1. Jeff, this is off topic, but what's your view of the accuracy of the info provided as "Facts about AB32" at
    suspendab32.org/ab_32.htm
    ?

    ...starting with the word "Economists"
    (does a Master's in econ legitimately allow one to be called an economist? and is there any way one could legitimately call Tootelian an economist?)

    BTW, I did email Ted Costa and eric the SuspendAB32 webmaster, asking who the economists were; but I have not heard back.

    Also, do you know how I can find out who's committed the 600k to signature gathering?

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  2. I know a number of good economists who only have master's degrees, and a few poor ones with Ph.D.'s.

    I prefer to judge the work, and the background can sometimes give explanation when the work is poor. As you know, I think this work is poor.

    I actually share their concerns about the cost of AB32, but I don't think those costs are nearly as high as they describe. The details of how it is implmented are critical to keeping the costs managable, and it would be nice for California if the U.S. would move ahead with it's own policy too.

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  3. Thanks Jeff. (and may I say how much I appreciate being able to pop in and pick your brain, here.)

    > I prefer to judge the work, and the background can sometimes give explanation

    Agreed, that's the best way, for those who are competent to judge their work. But what judgment criteria should some busy ordinary citizen use, who stumbles across that webpage and wonders how much credence to accord the info there?

    Perhaps economic policy needs its own Greg Craven.

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  4. (that wasn't a rhetorical question, BTW)

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  5. To start with, it should have a full reference so you can identify the source document.

    I can't say exactly, you seem pretty good at looking up alternative opinions.

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