VICA told to prepare for two tough years

California faces a long, broad recession with no rebound of lagging housing prices for nearly four years, economists said Thursday at a business forecast conference. Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

"I don't have to tell you that we are living in troubling times," VICA Chairman Greg Lippe said as he opened the 20th annual business forecast sponsored by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association at the Universal Hilton.

And in response to the question raised by the title of the conference - "When Does the Recovery Start?" - economists Christopher Thornberg and Andre B. van Niekerk said, not any time soon.

Thornberg, principal partner at Beacon Economics