More California economic news

Ballooning Pension Costs What has rapidly perpetuated financial woes for the city is that payouts for retirement benefits have increased in recent years, thus crowding out services the city provides. A study released in early April by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research found that, for the city of Los Angeles, “Pension costs increased from 8.5 percent of total city expenditures in 1999 to 13.7 percent in 2011.” For fiscal year 2011-12, estimated pension costs look to have climbed to “15.4 percent of city expenditures.” http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/11/13/los-angeles-teeters-on-the-brink-of-bankruptcy-2/

Same in Fresno. Stockton is now a concentration camp, barbed wire everywhere. Oakland will need a federal takover of the police.