A Venture Lost

Nummi (New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated), Toyota and GM's joint venture auto-plant located in Fremont, is losing it's yang. After failing to produce a future product plan for the factory, GM has announced it is leaving the plant due to a series of turbulent transitions the company has endured in the past year. What does it mean? Thousands of Bay Area workers will be losing their jobs. Coming soon to our Economic Edge segment, we will be providing resources and information for those who have recently become unemployed. In these trying times, consider pragmatic optimistism.   

Microfinance Ain't Just for the Developing World

Today, Crosscurrents is airing an interview between host Holly Kernan and Eric Weaver, the CEO of Opportunity Fund, a microlending institution here in the Bay Area.

We speak with him about how Opportunity Fund joined forces with fellow microlending institution Kiva to launch an online microlending effort in the United States. As of June 10th, small investors from all around the world can choose to fund the recovery of the bay area economy. This is also a way to make a small investment in your neighborhood and local businesses go a long way.

Here you can read a recent column he wrote for the SF Chronicle on this topic, and you can go here to listen to our interview.

Coca Cola Microfinance 101

All colleges and universities are getting creative these days about how to stay running, but this Chronicle story about SF's City College concerned some of us about the extent educators are willing to go.

The idea: get financial sponsors to "save" classes that will otherwise be canceled.

Here's an excerpt from today's Chronicle piece:

About 800 classes will be canceled at City College during the next school year thanks to the state's budget crisis. State lawmakers plan to slash at least 9 percent - a total of $630 million - from the entire California community college system this year and next.

Hundreds of thousands of students could be locked out of college as a result, including some of the neediest Californians who depend on state subsidies for books, travel and food that make attending school possible for them. In addition to the lost courses, such subsidies will be cut way back.

So for $6,000 you could save a class, and get the class named after you in return.

I suppose the Chancellor is hoping to attract individual donors, but what if businesses want to get into the mix? How would it look to have "McDonalds Investment Strategy 200" or "Pottery Barn Intro to Art" on your transcript? Let's hope the economy bounces back before that becomes an issue.

Budget Cuts = Picket Signs

If you happen to stop by a chevron station to fill up your vehicle, be prepared to see angry California Labor Federation members, who have chosen 8 stations for their a series of ongoing demonstrations . They are protesting recent tax cuts that Chevron and other “big business” entities have received from state budgeting, which they estimate at nearly 2.5 billion. Democratic Senators Darrell Steinberg and Alex Padilla have proposed a recent bill that would induce a $1.50 tax on cigarette packets, in order to redirect money back into the states general budget and health protection fund.

How do you think the city can balance taxes with balancing the budget? Where do you think the city could save some money? Write to us at news@kalw.org and we will post your answers.

Criticizing The Media's Focus on Nouveau Poor

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of "Nickel and Dimed", and she wrote an op-ed this week for the New York Times that caught our eye here at the Economic Edge. It is titled "Too Poor to Make the News". In it, she criticizes the media for being consumed with stories about "the nouveau poor," without taking stock of how the already poor are being hit by this recession.

I reccommend reading the entire column, whether you're a member of the media or simply a consumer of it, because we can all take stock of what we render invisible or visible with our attention, air time, and/or dollars. I've pasted a the beginning section of the column below to give you a sense of where she is coming from:

THE human side of the recession, in the new media genre that’s been called “recession porn,” is the story of an incremental descent from excess to frugality, from ease to austerity. The super-rich give up their personal jets; the upper middle class cut back on private Pilates classes; the merely middle class forgo vacations and evenings at Applebee’s. In some accounts, the recession is even described as the “great leveler,” smudging the dizzying levels of inequality that characterized the last couple of decades and squeezing everyone into a single great class, the Nouveau Poor, in which we will all drive tiny fuel-efficient cars and grow tomatoes on our porches.

But the outlook is not so cozy when we look at the effects of the recession on a group generally omitted from all the vivid narratives of downward mobility — the already poor, the estimated 20 percent to 30 percent of the population who struggle to get by in the best of times. This demographic, the working poor, have already been living in an economic depression of their own. From their point of view “the economy,” as a shared condition, is a fiction.
-- Barbara Ehrenreich

Creative Ways to Make SF Living Affordable

So there may be hope for all of us out there praying for affordable housing in San Francisco. Today's Examiner reports that it's time for The City to update its "housing element", which is a report on how to meet anticipated demand for affordable housing. The recession has hastened the city's need to reassess their tactics for fostering affordable ways to live here, and so they are turning to some creative solutions, such as:

"Supporting situations where tenants share one kitchen, landlords offering renters free monthly Muni passes and employers advocating or even putting money up for housing projects are among the fresh strategies being considered."

I already share a kitchen, but I'd be down for a free MUNI pass any time! If you want to chime in on the report, the Planning Commission is holding a hearing on Thursday.

(Photo: View from Alamo Square, taken by Martina Castro)

Free Fun Friday: The North Beach Festival

Hey there people! Economy got you down? Well you deserve better, hell, we all do! And no matter what the state of the economy is, free is always good! So for this Friday's heads up on Free Fun, I'm highlighting the 54th annual North Beach Festival, from 10am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday, completely free. There will be crafts exhibitions, live music, and even a celebrity pizza toss...enjoy!

Budget Deficit? Think Environment.

Hi, I'm Daniella Pineda, Economic Edge Fellow for the summer and guest blogger. You'll notice from my weekly posts that I'm into the environment and animals. Cuddly ones. I graduated this spring from Mills College in Sociology and Radio Journalism, so you'll also hear me on KALW. 

For new graduates like myself who often perceive the current economy as a 90’s decade cemetery, green jobs might be the way to go, especially when it comes to looking for work in a state with a massive budget deficit. 

A recent study by UC Berkeley and Mills College professor David Roland-Holst says clean energy could significantly reduce California’s budget deficit, and create 500,000 jobs in the process.

One of those jobs could be at “Build it Green,” which trains and certifies people to become “green home” inspectors. That is, you visit homes and asses how green friendly they are, and what homeowners can do to make them more so. According to many, the pay is not too bad. The more green a home is, the more the property value goes up. So It’s true, Green is money.

"Free Weekend Fun" - Key word: FREE

So in the spirit of life on the Economic Edge, Fridays will be the day to come to the blog for a last minute tip to FREE events in the city/bay area for the upcoming weekend.

Today, I am highlighting an all day party in Golden Gate Park this Sunday hosted by Tableworks. See description and website info below:

Golden Gate Sound is playing it forward with a FREE daytime event for the whole family in Golden Gate Park. Now in its second year, this is a memorial get together remembering Tableworks SF founder Jamie James Owens. Held in beautiful Peacock Meadow, djs M3, Harry Who?, Michael Liu, Dr.Mindbender, Device, Jay Vibes, & Kelee Silva will be keeping the beats alive from noon to 6 pm... Bring bbq, the dog or the kids... relax with friends and please help us leave no trace. Porta-potties will be provided so you can hang all day. Location: Peacock Meadow in Golden Gate Park- along JFK Drive, near the Fell Street entrance, an easy walk from the top of Haight Street - between the Conservatory of Flowers & McLaren Lodge. Map & Directions at goldengatesound.com

Official Site: http://www.goldengatesound.com

Keeping Track of All the Layoffs

Yesterday, the OC Register reported that more than a quarter of the state’s unemployed have been so for at least 6 months, and these numbers are only growing.

For those of you interested in the dirty details, the Sacramento Bee has launched an interactive database where you can figure out what specific companies are issuing layoffs, how many, and where.

Just to give you an idea, the latest layoffs listed in our area include Wells Fargo in San Leandro (148), Durham School Services at Oakland Airport (137), and In-Home Supportive Services in San Francisco (120).