Summary:
Despite the recent bad news about California, the state remains a global leader in many areas, and its future is bright, Institute Chairman Michael Milken said in the event's keynote speech.
We must not forget, he said, "how far we've come" as a state.
Milken pointed to the fact that California's economy remains one of the largest in the world - $1.3 trillion GDP — and that its job losses, while difficult, have not been as bad as the nation as a whole in the past two years.
He cited such California companies as Intel, Amgen, Cisco and Genentech to remind attendees that the state is still on the leading edge in many areas.
Milken also pointed to the state's diverse population, which he called "one of the great strengths of California."
In one generation, Latinos have growth from less than 20 percent of the state's population to one-third. California is the first state in the continental U.S. in which no ethnic group has an absolute majority. This growth in the minority population will have a major impact on California in the coming years, he said.
Another group that will dramatically change California is the baby boomer population. The aging of these citizens is expected to send health-care employment skyrocketing in the coming decades, he said.
In addition to putting our current challenges in perspective, Milken also reminded the audience to be careful when making predictions. He pointed to some predictions that failed to come true, such as the one in 1950 that polio would cost $100 billion to treat by century's end. (The Salk polio vaccine was introduced five years later.)
He outlined the Institute's latest initiative, the Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, and described how finding cures sooner to our most deadline and debilitating diseases would add trillions of dollars to our economy, in addition to relieving suffering and saving the lives of million of people.
In his closing, Milken recalled the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, who said, "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
Milken then added: "The immigrants who are coming to America, and primarily California, for a better life, for better education, and for opportunities, will never let us in California forget that we have the ability and the energy, and we will eventually put our doubts away."
