Changes

The economy has been badly battered by the [[Recession of 2008]], especially by the collapse of the state's [[housing bubble]]. Unemployment in Aug. the August of 2009 reached 12.2%, the highest since 1940. Home building this year is less than a quarter of what it was in 2005, and 500,000 of the state’s job losses have been in construction, finance, real estate and industries related to construction. The state budget is in crisis, because it relied heavily on personal income taxes. The financial collapse greatly reduced personal wealth of rich Californians, and job losses related to the housing bust combined to sharply reduce that source of revenue. After bitter debate in the legislature a budget was passed in July 2009. It closed a roughly $24 billion two-year gap with extensive cuts to social services, parks and education, which in turn reduced consumer spending among laid off and furloughed government workers.Also greatly damaging the economy is their very [[socialist]] nature, being a state in which welfare is easy to come by increasing mass numbers of homeless how live to drink and get high