Business, News, Politics

Washington State Economy Needs That Boeing Bounce…And More

That’s well and good, says Raha, but “Boeing cannot, by itself, save us from the impact of another slowdown in the U.S. economy.” Recently, Raha has made a point of looking for upsides, saying that barring this or that unforeseen incident, the state can expect modest growth. Yet, since 2008, the winds have refused to blow fair. Now the disruption of the Japan earthquake has been followed by a summer of wrangling over the emperor’s new debt ceiling, and even incremental recovery has stalled out. Continue reading Washington State Economy Needs That Boeing Bounce…And More

Business, News, Politics

What is the Sound of Washington State’s Economy Treading Water?

Washington State’s chief economist, Arun Raha, has updated his revenue forecast for the state for June, and the upshot is that projections for the 2011-13 biennium are down $183 million. It’s become habit the last few years for Raha to trot out an analysis that shows a near-term plateau, with a soft recovery in the offing, perhaps six months or more out. Raha is scrupulous about noting that even a mild recovery is predicated on fair economic winds, it’s just that, regularly, the economic winds do not blow fair. Continue reading What is the Sound of Washington State’s Economy Treading Water?

Health, News, Politics

After PALS: Mentally Ill with History of Arson, Murder & Sex Offenses Return to King County

At the time, Shoenfeld said, “the reason these people are there is we really can’t place them in the community at large. Of those eleven people, two have committed murder–one murdered a Seattle police officer–three are sex offenders, and four have committed arson. Trying to place these people in the community? Where are we going to find a place that’s going to be willing to take them?” Continue reading After PALS: Mentally Ill with History of Arson, Murder & Sex Offenses Return to King County

Business, News

Washington State Adds to Unemployed Rolls, Retroactively

Anyway, the state’s jobless picture is still worse than you think: “The unemployment rate, which is based on a household survey, fell in February because more people left the labor force.” In a story on January’s unemployment numbers, I chose instead to focus on an actual and alarming change of several percentage points in underemployment. Continue reading Washington State Adds to Unemployed Rolls, Retroactively

Business, News

“Financial Forecast 2011” Recap: We’re Getting Slightly Better All the Time

This morning’s key pronouncement from Raha–“What we need now is just a few months of nothing going wrong,” a big laugh line as it turns out–contrasted strongly with the suppressed panic of the last big economic forecast I attended in December of 2008. The mood now is one of growing impatience, having seen the worst, with the progress of recovery–though all the panelists were careful to emphasize that patience will be exactly what’s required. Continue reading “Financial Forecast 2011” Recap: We’re Getting Slightly Better All the Time