A report from Easy Reader News on California. "Economist Christopher Thornberg quoted Chapman University economist Joel Kotkin’s finding that California recently became the world’s fifth largest economy. 'But he says all the growth is coming from Silicon Valley. The rest of the state is a hell hole. It’s okay to think that. But why did he have to say that?'"

"'Joel has reached an interesting point in his career where he no longer needs facts to back up his opinion. We all get there. My father is there. I’m getting there.' 'But look at the data,' he said in a pleading voice. Then he showed a slide of Kotkin’s own economic data showing the Bay area 'punching above its weight' but not surpassing Southern California."

"'The Bay Area has never been a dominant source of growth, ever, from an income or job perspective. It never will be. It’s too small. It has seven million people. Los Angeles County alone has 10.5 million,' he said."

"'The mortgage rate hike caused the housing market to take a breather in 2018. Sales slipped from 5.5 million to 5.2 million. This is the market behaving rationally. Yet that tiny blip has led to mass panic,' Thornberg said. 'People say the housing shortage is an affordability crisis. That’s a stupid argument. The problem is not enough homes.'"

The Orange County Register. "Homebuying in Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel and San Clemente fell 16 percent from August through November vs. the same period in 2017 amid a steep countywide slowdown. Once primetime selling season ended in Orange County this summer, house hunters balked."

"That created the slowest-selling August-to-November period in seven years. Culprits were high prices and expensive mortgages. At the same time, homeowners and builders boosted the supply of residences for sale."

From Mingtiandi. "Four of the biggest Chinese investors in Los Angeles real estate have been named in an FBI investigation of possible bribery, kickbacks, extortion, and money laundering related to property deals in southern California’s largest city, according to a document seen by Mingtiandi and first uncovered by the Los Angeles Times."

"Shanghai’s Greenland Group, Shenzhen Hazens, China Oceanwide Holdings and Shenzhen New World Group, were all named in a search warrant filed by the FBI and approved in US federal court last November, seeking access to email accounts belonging to Ray Chan, the former head of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety under Mayor Eric Garcetti, according to the document."

"The document specifically requests 'All records relating to development projects in and around Los Angeles that related to foreign investors to include, but not limited to, Hazens, Greenland, Oceanwide and other foreign investors not yet identified.' Together with Shenzhen New World, Hazens, Greenland Group and China Oceanwide have invested in Los Angeles area real estate projects valued at over $2.35 billion since 2010."

The Wall Street Journal. "Messaging startup Hustle projected the picture of Silicon Valley largess. So it came as a shock to many employees earlier this month when co-founder and CEO Roddy Lindsay sent them an early-morning email announcing mass layoffs. Before the week was done, even the espresso machine was ripped out of the kitchen at Hustle’s San Francisco headquarters."

"Hustle is hardly the first startup to spend lavishly in an era of technology riches. What is new these days: The bill is coming due. Startup investors and company founders warn that the unchecked growth of the past several years—which by some metrics exceeded heights from the dot-com boom—could be hitting a limit."

"'The unbridled optimism that inhabits our world,' said startup investor Sunny Dhillon, 'is getting a shot of realism.'"

"The attitude among technology investors is shifting, said venture capitalist Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital, swapping ’fear of missing out’ for ’shame of being suckered.'"