Milken Conference opens in Bev Hills

The annual gathering of world thinkers heard the discouraging views of Pimco CEO Mohamed A. El-Erian, who says that unemployment "has become much more structural in nature." From Bloomberg:

El-Erian, who helps oversee the world's largest bond fund, gave four reasons constraining an improvement in the global economy. Oil prices, which settled at the highest price since 2008 on April 29, are too elevated, and housing markets haven't sufficiently stabilized, he said. Europe hasn't solved its debt crisis, and world leaders are concerned that U.S. politicians are "arguing too much," he said. "Different sections of the orchestra are playing a different tune and it sounds confusing," El-Erian said.

Michael Milken, writing in the latest edition of institute's review, says all is not lost.

"We can extend [growth] long into the future if the public and private sectors, and all of us as individuals, assume greater responsibility for our common destiny by summoning the will to face hard facts and make difficult choices -- and by electing leaders who will do the same... To be blunt, our leaders must stop telling us we can have it all and do a better job of allocating the resources we have available."