Milken Institute

In the 16 years since his release from prison, disgraced junk-bond king Michael Milken has beaten prostate cancer, raised hundreds of millions of dollars for medical research and reshaped an image tarnished by a 1990 conviction for securities fraud. One thing he's been unable to do is win a presidential pardon, despite the support of some of the country's most influential people. Before he left office Jan.

In a setback for supporters of California's popular film tax credit program, a new government report has thrown cold water on claims about the credit's return to taxpayers. A study released by the California Legislative Analyst's Office concludes that the credit program "appears to result in a net decline in state revenues. " Enacted in 2009, the program offers a credit of 20% to 25% toward qualified production expenses. California allocates $100 million annually toward the credit, which can be applied to offset income or sales tax liabilities.

California's film tax credit program has helped to stem the flight of movies and TV shows since it was enacted in 2009, but would be improved with more funding and fewer restrictions on the types of projects that can qualify, a new study concludes. The report, "Fighting Production Flight," from the Milken Institute says the film tax credit program — which gives producers 20% to 25% tax credits toward qualified production expenses for films and TV shows shot in California — has been successful in that it has been oversubscribed and has had a "demonstrable impact in arresting the decline in filmed entertainment spending and employment in the state.

California's film tax credit program has helped to stem the flight of movies and TV shows since it was enacted in 2009, but would be improved with more funding and fewer restrictions on the types of projects that can qualify, a new study concludes. The report, "Fighting Production Flight," from the Milken Institute says the film tax credit program — which gives producers 20% to 25% tax credits toward qualified production expenses for films and TV shows shot in California — has been successful in that it has been oversubscribed and has had a "demonstrable impact in arresting the decline in filmed entertainment spending and employment in the state.

California's film tax credit program has helped to stem the flight of movies and TV shows since it was enacted in 2009, but would be more effective with more funding and fewer restrictions on the types of projects that can qualify, a new study concludes. The report, "Fighting Production Flight," from the Milken Institute says California's film tax credit -- which gives producers 20% to 25% tax credits toward qualified production expenses for films and TV shows shot in the state - has been successful in that it has been oversubscribed and has had a "demonstrable impact in arresting the decline in filmed entertainment spending and employment in the state.

Nine Nobel laureates of economics will be among more than 100 speakers and panelists participating in a three-day economic conference organized by the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute, a nonprofit think tank founded by former junk bond king Michael Milken. This year's conference, which runs Wednesday through Friday, will focus on technology.

Lewis C. Solmon, an economist and former dean of UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies who was a national voice for teaching reform, died Monday at his Westwood home following a stroke, according to Tamara Schiff of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, of which Solmon was president. He was 65.

Los Angeles' prosperity depends on how well it integrates its low-skilled immigrant workforce into its knowledge-based industries, according to a report to be released today. The city also must do more to attract and sustain small and medium-sized businesses, in part through improved access to affordable capital. Those are among the key findings of a yearlong, city-funded study on the Los Angeles economy by Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. Former Mayor James K.

Orange County's broad range of software, telecommunications, aerospace and other high-tech firms produced more than one out of every eight dollars generated in the local economy, making it the 13th-ranked community in a new study of the country's technology hotbeds. In the study, "America's High-Tech Economy," released Tuesday by the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, San Jose easily captured the top spot, thanks to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley.

California is likely to lose 263,700 jobs by mid-2002 because of the economic fallout of the Sept.11 terror attacks, a think tank forecast Tuesday. The Santa Monica-based Milken Institute said the job losses could rise to 400,000 positions if consumer and business spending remains depressed for an extended period. Most of the job losses under either scenario would come in travel-related industries, according to the institute's report.

California's film tax credit program has helped to stem the flight of movies and TV shows since it was enacted in 2009, but would be more effective with more funding and fewer restrictions on the types of projects that can qualify, a new study concludes. The report, "Fighting Production Flight," from the Milken Institute says California's film tax credit -- which gives producers 20% to 25% tax credits toward qualified production expenses for films and TV shows shot in the state - has been successful in that it has been oversubscribed and has had a "demonstrable impact in arresting the decline in filmed entertainment spending and employment in the state.

Bill Clinton has some advice for Europe's leaders: Focus on stimulus, not cost cutting. The former president told a capacity crowd inside the Beverly Hilton's grand ballroom that the continent cannot rely on austerity measures to bail itself out of the debt crisis. Instead, it needs to focus on multiyear plans to boost its nations' economies. "The prescription of austerity has continued to be pushed in the face of all the evidence that it won't work," Clinton said at the Milken Institute's 2012 Global Conference.

They loped in like a pair of old lions, one a bit stooped, both proud to a fault. On the left, sipping from his bottled water, was Gov. Jerry Brown. On the right, fidgeting with note cards, was Michael Milken. The occasion was last week's State of the State Conference put on by the Milken Institute. The day was full of wisdom and, surprisingly, optimism, as some of California's best minds and sharpest business types appraised the state and found reason for both concern and hope. But the main event was the dialogue between Milken and Brown, icons of dichotomous California — the ascetic governor sharing a stage with the financial wizard whose name was once synonymous with greed.

Wrapping up its State of the State Conference at the Beverly Hilton on Tuesday, the Milken Institute released a sobering look at California's public pension system. Their conclusion: Dramatic changes are needed to cope with demographic trends and funding shortfalls. "We're talking about a perfect storm: more state services needed for an aging population, a workforce that will spend more years in retirement than they did contributing to the funds, and a smaller ratio of working-age taxpayers and contributing state workers to pay for it all," said Perry Wong, director of regional economics at the Milken Institute.

A new study confirms what any grip, camera operator or location manager already painfully knows: California is bleeding film jobs. The state has lost more than 36,000 jobs and $2.4 billion in wages over the last decade as production has migrated away, according to a report by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit economic think tank co-founded by former highflying 1980s Wall Street player Michael Milken. Aptly titled "Film Flight," the Milken report is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the economic toll of so-called runaway production that has hammered L.A.'s movie and television production economy and the thousands of below-the-line workers and support companies that depend on it. The survey runs through 2008, the last year for which federal and state labor data were available, and thus understates the extent of the job losses because it doesn't cover the recession that prompted widespread layoffs in the industry.

When her Irvine office began laying off workers in a lousy economy, Deborah Haas did what every employee fearful of being the next one booted is doing these days: She got busy. An executive assistant to the head of a furniture company, she became the receptionist, event planner, marketing assistant and office manager. When the catering budget got whacked, she threw on an apron and started whipping up chile lime crab cocktails and carne asada skewers for sales events. Workers like her are fueling a surge of productivity in the U.S. economy.

Los Angeles County's broad range of software, telecommunications, aerospace and other high-tech firms produced nearly one out of every eight dollars generated in the local economy, making it the third-ranked community in a new study of the country's technology hotbeds. In the study, "America's High-Tech Economy," released Tuesday by the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, San Jose easily captured the top spot, thanks to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The El Monte factory stopped operating just a few weeks ago, but already it feels abandoned, an appropriate setting for a "Terminator" movie. The dusty clock on the wall is frozen at 7:00. Below it, the deep pits that once held molten steel are now empty, and the parts created there wait in hundreds of boxes to be shipped off across the country or turned into scrap.

With earnings coming out today, which means he can't talk business, and CNN's Larry King as his interviewer, Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. Chairman Sumner Redstone was able to dodge a grilling during his interview session at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. Instead, the two seemed to be rehearsing for a summer tour of the Catskills. A sampling: King: "How old are you?" Redstone: "I'm 65." (He's actually 85.) King: "Then you don't look so amazing."