Drucker Breakfast Club: A “Prag”-matic View of Trump and California

The next four years under the Trump administration are going to be difficult ones for California, Jay Prag told an audience Thursday at the Drucker Breakfast Club, an ongoing series showcasing faculty and guest speakers on a range of economic, political, and public topics.

A clinical associate professor with the Drucker School of Management, Prag warned the audience that difficulties lie ahead for the state—especially regarding federal help for housing and infrastructure repair.

The audience included current students, alumni, faculty, business owners, and reporters from the Inland Daily Bulletin and the Inland Empire Business Daily. The Inland Daily Bulletin’s coverage, which includes a video interview with Prag, focused on the potential impact of tariffs on imported goods from Asia and Mexico in the Inland Empire.

Prag remained cautiously optimistic about the future of Inland Empire warehousing and jobs, despite the risk of higher taxes on foreign imports which, notes the article, Republican lawmakers refer to as a “border adjustment” tax.

But Prag also offered a broader picture of how the state’s “staunchly over-regulated and over-taxed” position could very well “accelerate the exodus of business and jobs from California.”

Similarly, the Inland Empire Business Daily’s coverage of Prag’s talk highlighted his warning that “Republicans are not going to pour federal money into a state that is a Democratic stronghold … when they can add to their power base by spending in other states.”

Upcoming Drucker Breakfast Club events will look at bipartisan leadership in California, Trump’s first 100 days, and more.