California’s strengths ===>>> California’s liabilities

[GoodTaste]

Does "liabilities" here mean "burdens"?


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The Price of a Virus Lockdown: Economic ‘Free Fall’ in California
California’s strengths — as a hub for commerce, tourism and education in the Pacific Rim — have become liabilities in the pandemic.

Source: NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/us/coronavirus-california-economy.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In effect, yes.

The word liability is often used in money discussions. It's the opposite of asset. For parallelism, I would have used weaknesses, the opposite of strengths.