Blog
What will cause the next recession?
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. GraphsandLaughs, LLC September 1, 2019 The Great Recession of 2008 is firmly in the rearview mirror, we are now enjoying the longest recovery in U.S. history, the unemployment rate is near a 50-year low, wage growth is pretty good, inflation is...
Are 1,061 Pages Enough?
By Robert Rivinius, FBA Executive Director When I have a chance to meet with someone in the Legislature or from the Governor's Office, I take them a copy of the Cal-Chamber's 2019 California Labor Law Digest. The book is 8" x 11", 2 1/2" inches thick, and has 1,061...
PAGA Reform Would Help Grow Our Economy
By Ken Monroe Chair, Family Business Assn. of CA and president, Holt of California This op-ed originally appeared in the Orange County Register on July 5, 2019 You can’t watch TV or go online these days without hearing about more and more politicians who are calling...
Modern Monetary Theory Is Voodoo Economics Redux
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. |Â June 1, 2019 There is currently widespread frustration with the performance of the global economy. Traditional policy approaches are not delivering the economic results they have in the past. In the U.S., millennials are poorer, have lower...
More than 70 Members get latest information at Family Business Day
NEW! See photos from Family Business Day. More than 70 FBA Members and guests heard the latest information about developments at the Capitol at last week's Family Business Day and Legislative Conference -- including the hot-off-the-presses news that legislation to...
The Green New Deal is a bad deal
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. | March 1 While advocates of the Green New Deal (GND) suggest it will solve a multitude of problems by combating global warming and creating millions of well-paid jobs, the reality is that the GND is a profoundly expensive plan that takes leave...
FBA sponsors landmark bill that would define a California Family Business
Senate Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, has agreed to carry legislation sponsored by FBA that will provide a definition for family businesses in California. SB 483 will be amended to assist state and local governments in identifying family businesses that meet the...
FBA signs on to letter supporting federal death tax repeal
At a time when more and more progressives are seeking to reinstate higher estate tax levels -- and significantly raise taxes for many family business owners -- FBA is proud to be one of more than 150 associations and trade groups that are backing legislation to fully...
Why Is Wage Growth So Lousy?
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., GraphsandLaughs, LLC While the most recent jobs report showed the unemployment rate at 4.0% — the lowest rate in almost 50 years — it also showed annual wage gains running at just 3.2%. While that is the best rate of growth in over a decade,...
New Year, Newsom, New-ish Bills
By Dennis Albiani and Faith Borges Democratic supermajorities were sworn into both houses of the Legislature in December and the New Year brought in a sweep of Democratic statewide office holders being sworn into office, the most notable being Governor Gavin Newsom....
Economic Forecast 2019: Good, But Not as Good as 2018
By Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. Despite increasing political uncertainty, a split Congress, trade concerns, financial-market volatility, and slowing global growth, from an economic perspective, the next 12 months should be decent. The odds of a recession have roughly...
Frivolous PAGA lawsuits are making some lawyers rich, but they aren’t helping workers or employers
This op-ed by FBA Chairman Ken Monroe appeared in the Los Angeles Times on December 6, 2018 Fourteen years ago, California set up a new method for enforcing its complex wage and hour laws. The legislation, called the Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, allows...