Economy of California

the economy of the California represents 14% of GDP the United States, and would be with it only 6th or 7th world economic power. Unemployment rate is lower than the national average and is established to 4,8% in March 2006. The economic success depends on advanced technology industries, a powerful agriculture, a many population and in continuous growth. However, the Californian development model is called into question from the point of view of environmental protection: the Californian ones became aware of the energy wastings, of the important taking away out of water in particular for agriculture as well as industrial pollution. Lastly, California east close to the Mexican border and benefits from the system of the Maquiladora S and an inexpensive labor.

Demographic data

Structure of the active population

The Department of the public purses of California gives the following statistics, for March 2006:

Secondary industry: 2 454 900 employment
High technologies (counted separately): 870 800 employment
Tertiary sector: 12 501 400 employment

Primary sector

Mines and hydrocarbons

The prosperity of California in second half of the 19th century is founded on the exploitation of the noble metals (Or and money), of oil and others Minerai S like the Borax. Oil is extracted from ground-to-ground Californian since the end of the XIXe century and the reserves decrease quickly, so that California must import some, in particular Alaska. In 1996, the production is approximately 48 million tons per annum The gold reserves remain important, for example in several sectors of the Sierra Nevada, but they are not easily exploitable. The other productions are the natural gas, sand, the Borax, cement, soda and salt.

Electrical production

The rivers of the north of the state count several hydroelectric stoppings. The Stopping Hoover, located in the Nevada, provides part of the electricity of the California of the south. Whereas the Californian population accounts for 12% of the American population, it consumes only 7% of the electricity produced in the country; thus, California is in the first place for energy profitability by anybody. The State began to limit the gas emissions to greenhouse effect: the announced objectives are a reduction of 11% before 2010 and 87% before 2050.

In 2005, the republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign the Senate Bill 76 : the budget of the State of California finances with height of 6,5 million dollars the construction of stations for the vehicles rolling to the Hydrogène. Thanks to its good sunning, California develops solar energy: the State shelters cylindro-parabolic collectors whose power reaches 80 MW. A bill obliges the property developers to install a system of solar energy on 15% of the new houses built in California as from 2006. It provides that, from here to 2010,55% of the houses will be equipped in solar panels. The governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had made countryside to incite to install solar systems in half of the houses of the State as from 2005. California is the American State where wind energy is developed with a production capacity of more than 2040 MW installed in 2004, far in front of the Texas (1293 MW). The principal areas of production are in north, the east of San Francisco and the south (in the Tehachapi Mountains).

Agriculture

The agriculture of California, Mediterranean type, productive and is diversified: it is the first producing one of value in the United States. It depends on the irrigation and the capital. Since 1945, the cultures of cotton, vine and tomatos are mechanized. The fruit and vegetables account for 1/3 of the national production. The state is the second orange producer behind the Florida. However, only 15% of the territory are devoted to agriculture. The principal productions are (in value) the fruits (9,2 billion $), the vegetables (6,2 billion $), the meat (5,7 billion $ and the dairy products (3,7 billion $). With the end of the Cold war and the difficulties of the airline companies, industrial manpower start to drop. Today, the Californian industrial power is comparable with that of the small European countries. It precedes all the other American states. But in the context of the Universalization, it undergoes the competition of other in particular Asian hearths (Bangalore for example).

Advanced technology industries and armament

Californian industry rests on state-of-the-art technologies. It ensures 25% of the American production of armament and computers. The Silicon Valley , in the south of San Francisco, is thus the world center of microprocessing, with companies like Apple, Inc., Cisco, Nortel, Hewlett-Packard, of the software (Adobe) and of the microprocessor (Sun Microsystems, Intel). The model of Silicon Valley is used as reference in the whole world, so that one applies this name to the Technopôle S Indians or Chinese. Other technopolises also exist in the remainder of the state (county of Orange, San Diego) and of the country.

The complex militaro-industrialist also prosperous and is supported by the Federal state: companies like Douglas, Hughes, Rockwell have their seat and some there their factories. The aerospace sector employs 200 000 people. The climate of the south-east of California makes it possible to carry out the tests in outside all the year; the deserts offer big spaces for discrete bases. Lastly, this area holds a strategic position on the Pacific Ocean. The bases Edwards, in the Désert of Mojave, is the site of landing of the space shuttle of NASA. Several bases Naval Aviation of the US Airforce (Camp Pendleton, Vandenberg bases, San Diego) are installed on the southernmost coast and get employment to hundreds of people. These two growth industries of Californian industry are based on abundant budgets of Research and development: 20% of the expenditure of R & D of the public sectors and private carried out in the United States are it in California. California profits moreover from a network of formation quality: universities of Stanford and Berkeley is universally famous. Moreover, the prestige of the Californian companies attracts a qualified personnel of the whole world, whose California does not have to support the training costs.

Car

The car makes live thousands of people. The Japanese companies settled to circumvent the tariff barriers (Toyota with Fremont). Upstream, of many SME work for automobile industry.

Construction

The sector of the BTP is also dynamic. It is stimulated by the surge of immigrants which increases the request for housing. The construction of highways is flourishing.

Heavy industries

Heavy industries concentrate in the industrialo-harbor complexes of the great agglomerations (San Francisco and Los Angeles). Principal the Raffinerie S is with Long Beach and in the Baie of San Francisco. There exists a great steelworks with Fontana, close to Los Angeles.

Manufactured goods

The situation of California explains the development of manufacturing industries like the textile. The state profits from the proximity of the Mexican Maquiladora S and its position on the Pacific Ocean, opposite the new industrialized countries Asian.

Tertiary sector

Tourism

California is a tourist destination of first order and offers many possibilities: balneal tourism on the beaches of the south, sporting holidays (Surfing, water sport, excursions, drives out, fishing, in natural reserves and the national parks), cultural tourism (museums of Los Angeles and San Francisco) and winter tourism thanks to the many ski stations of the Sierra Nevada. This sector remains an important source of incomes. The amusement parks concentrate in the south with Disneyland and SeaWorld. The natural parks also attract many visitors (Park of the Yosemite, National park of the Valley of dead the).

San Francisco and Los Angeles are of the tourist destinations of first order. They are well served by international airports: that of Los Angeles is the 5th world one, that of San Francisco, the 22e. The two cities concentrate picturesque sites (Golden Spoils Bridge, Hollywood), of the museums and the amusement parks. The Californian climate is another asset.

Audio-visual production

The agglomeration of Los Angeles is known universally for its industry of the Média S and the cinema (Hollywood).

Trade and transport

Japan is the principal business partner of California. Canada occupies the second position. California is for a long time open on the Pacific. The ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland close to San Francisco are among most important of the country. The port Beach Length is even the first American seaport with a traffic of 107 million tons in 1998.

The three principal road junctions are Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Sacramento, the capital of the State, benefits from a favorable position: it is located on the river of the same name which opens a passage towards San Francisco and Los Angeles. San Francisco occupies an exceptional bay site and constitutes an interface between the interior of the State and the Pacific Ocean. Lastly, Los Angeles is the terminus of the Route 66 and the first airport place of the American West.

Finance departments and banks

The finance departments and banking are particularly developed in the business districts of the metropolises. More than 38 firms have their head office in San Francisco or Los Angeles. But the produce exchanges of these two metropolises count much less than that of Wall Street.

Infrastructures and overconsumption of the resources

This economic success is supported by effective infrastructures: the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the two first of the State and the United States, and facilitate exports and the trade with the South America and Asia.

Agriculture massively uses water for the Irrigation for a very long time. thus many Aqueduc S was built:

for the Central Valley Project , at the beginning of the 20th century: the valley located at the east of San Francisco is irrigated by collecting of water of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin;
gradually, the towns of San Francisco, San Diego and of Los Angeles repurchased the rights of irrigation of the farmers in order to feed their drinking water network;
the Vallée of Hetch Hetchy was ennoyée by a stopping in 1923 in order to constitute a tank for San Francisco;
the growth of Los Angeles requiring always more water, a aqueduct was built starting from the Lac Owens (natural);
the river Colorado is also put at contribution: the Hoover stopping is built starting from 1930 and is connected to Los Angeles by a 250 km length aqueduct built in the Années 1940; this aqueduct also feeds from the cultures in full desert; five other stoppings, whose Parker stopping, were built downstream;
finally, that sufficient step, the Californian aqueduct was built in the Années 1960, and feeds Los Angeles starting from the sources of the North of California; it makes 700 km length (equivalent of Paris-Montpellier), and passes over the mountains by pumping.

All these infrastructures allowed the development of agriculture and the cities. But California exceeded today the limits of L equation geographical (Jean-Christophe Victor), and uses its natural resources beyond what bearable. The Lac Owens is drained today since nearly thirty years; Colorado is only one brook when it enters to Mexico, which poses problems of renewal of water in the Golfe of California, which is an almost closed sea. Today, 50% of the water consumed in California come from the outside of the State, thanks to infrastructures financed by the Federal state.

But this external provisioning is them also called into question: indeed, the drawing rights of the Arizona and the Nevada on the Barrage Hoover were not used, and thus profited in Los Angeles. But with the growth of cities like Las Vegas, Tucson and Phoenix, it is a new source which is dried up. Moreover, the ecologists make more and more lawsuit for the misuse of water, unsuitable with consumption and made in a contrary way to the federal laws. Lastly, more and more from conflicts are born between the water-companies, the farmers (who consume 80% of the water of California), the cities and the Federal state which intends to make apply the law.

The development of the Californian agriculture, based on a cheap water, and a cheap labor, is thus called into question.

The brittleness of the Californian model is also perceived in the energy field (crisis in 2003), in the management of the equality between ethnos groups (racial riots in 1992), and the approximate management of the natural parks (large Incendie S).

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