Saturday, January 19, 2008
Doing less with more in the Golden State
But lost in the furor is any self-reflection, such as why would UC Davis recently pay John Edwards, multimillionaire trial lawyer, $50,000 plus to give a brief lecture on poverty? Such questions are never answered, much less raised, since the problem is always framed as a matter of a shortage of income, never a surfeit of unnecessary expenditure. . . . At some point we Californians should ask ourselves, how we inherited a state with near perfect weather, the world's richest agriculture, plentiful timber, minerals, and oil, two great ports at Los Angeles and Oakland, a natural tourist industry from Carmel to Yosemite, industries such as Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and aerospace—and serially managed to turn all of that into the nation's largest penal system, periodic near bankruptcy, and sky-high taxes.
As has been true in large parts of Africa, Asia, and South America, vast natural resources are usually more of a curse than a blessing. It is another form of having gotten rich without effort, the social equivalent of the worthless heir.
8 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Jan 19, 08:50:00 AM:
What an excellent comment from VDH, and you yourself as well.
Is there any better example of your point than Russia? Rich beyond measure in nearly everything, except in safe lives, liberty and happiness.
By , at
Sat Jan 19, 11:33:00 AM:
Never ever vote for a trial lawyer their slippery as a bucket of eels
By 
AmPowerBlog, at
Sat Jan 19, 12:28:00 PM:
California's going to have a rough year. Cut taxes, sure, but analysts have no need to denigrate the state's rep. We're a trendsetter for the nation: Remember Prop 13?
By , at
Sat Jan 19, 12:35:00 PM:
if you want to know why california is so messed up politically, check the in-migrations stats from the northeast, ove the last 30 - 40 years. to compare california with russia or south america is ignorant.
By , at
Sat Jan 19, 02:35:00 PM:
Arnold has correctly identified our stupid budgetary process as a prime culprit. We budget with an expectation that the markets will always go up, when we have any budget surplus the state gives it back to residents, so...there is really no rainy day account. When the market is down we have no buffer. Spending stays the same, but less income.
By , at
Sat Jan 19, 02:53:00 PM:
Texas is the second largest state in population (we finally passed New York a few years ago), with no state income tax and a relatively business friendly environment. We do fine.
"The economy of Texas is a dominant force in the economy of the United States. One of the largest growing economies in the nation, Texas is, as of 2006, home to six of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list and 56 overall, more than any other state. [1] Texas has an economy that is the second largest in the nation and the 15th largest in the world based on GDP (PPP) figures. As the largest exporter of goods in the United States, Texas currently grosses more than 100 billion dollars a year in trade with other nations."
While I admit to tooting my own horn a little here as a native, (come on, you know how we are) perhaps California and other states with similar problems (like New Jersey, I hear) should look to Austin for a positive example of how a state economy can be managed.
By Larry Sheldon, at
Sat Jan 19, 03:15:00 PM:
Tough in California?
Read somewhere (Today's electric Murky? I don't remember) that Intel will shut down its last wafer fab plant.
No more only "Silly" left in Silicon Valley?
By , at
Sat Jan 19, 03:32:00 PM:
"It got so crowded, nobody goes there anymore"-Yogi Berra
California is the victim of its own success and wealth, with the consequences that succeeding generations (especially the last two) have done little to build on what was given them, content to coast on the golden eggs (railroads, irrigation and water systmes, dams, seaports, university system , etc.) layed in the 19th and first half of the 20th century.
There is a larger lesson to be learned from this for the rest of the US, but I think it will be lost among the howling and gnashing of teeth over the notion of only spending what you can afford.
-David
