<p>Lecture, three hours. Los Angeles County has one of the largest, more important, and most dynamic regional economies in the U.S. and the world. Exploration of the ways its regional economy functions by looking into the key industries that make the Southern California economy hum. Study of the ways in which federal trade policy, globalization, economic development programs, immigrants, and most importantly worker movements have shaped this regional economy. Exploration also of the ways in which this economy has generated wealth inequality. Students gain better understanding of how corporations and other actors have sought to shape the Southern California regional economy to further their own ends, and the effects of those decisions on the working people in the region. P/NP or letter grading.</p>

Labor Studies

College of Letters and Science

LBR STD 183 - Workers and Jobs in Southern California

Workers and Jobs in Southern California

Articulate the different considerations which go into the development or dissolution of an industry within a region and beyond, and understand why economic development proposals either succeed or fail

Evaluate, form judgements, and express with confidence a general understanding of the current trends in several key industries in the Southern California region and their relative place in the nation, and beyond

Effectively and confidently research trends in employment and firm creation in any US regional labor market using government data sources including data from the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

Synthesize data from a variety of sources into an effective policy brief

Confidently present to their peers about a key piece of economic infrastructure from our region

Explain how growth and decline of industries shapes the fates and possible outcomes for working people staffing those industries, and evaluate what spillover effects from those dynamics might be within their own community

General Catalog

Workers and Jobs in Southern California

LBR STD 183

4 units