San Jose Economic Summit Provides Optimism For Local Economy
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – While the national and global economy have been on the brink of teetering over the edge, there is still plenty of optimism in the Bay Area.
All three speakers at an economic summit held at San Jose State University on Thursday voiced confidence in the local economy well into next year.
Chris Thornberg, founding principal of Beacon Economics, said one positive sign is the increase in California exports in June.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
"You're seeing about a 20 percent increase in the exports from the state of California, driven in large part from this part of the world with electronics and computer products," he said.
Thornberg said that there was some "frothiness" in the rush to invest in recent Initial Public Offerings, or IPOs, like Groupon and LinkedIn.
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is also optimistic and said that revenues for many Silicon Valley companies are up.
"And when those companies make money, they start spending it. A lot of it gets spent here locally and it takes a lot for it to wash through the economy," Reed said. "I think that will continue to drive us for awhile."
Reed said the biggest obstacles to economic growth are the state and federal government.
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