You might want to take a look at this article on the long, slow painful decline of jobs in California (hat tip: Glenn Reynolds). It’s a picture of a 20 year transmogrification in the state’s economy. Chock-full of thought-provoking graphs and charts.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of the info. California was the greatest beneficiary of two consecutive bubbles: the dot-com/tech bubble of the 1990s and the housing bubble of the Aughts. It’s not entirely surprising that when each bubble burst that California would lose as it had gained while the bubbles inflated.
While I have little doubt that adverse business climate has been a self-inflicted blow to California, I can’t help but think that the enormous change from enterprises that were bound to premises to a more networked world hasn’t injured the state as well. I seem to recall that in some of the interviews with Steve Jobs that were recycled after his death he complained about the problems with opening and operating manufacturing operations in the United States and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he didn’t have his eyes focused solidly on California.
I think that California finds itself increasingly in a pickle, torn between competing interests. Retired public employees and other recipients of the state’s largesse have interests that are largely at odds with those of small, vulnerable but potentially mobile start-up companies.
One of the things seemingly overlooked in the recent Obama decision not to lower the ozone standard was that California had already done so, and the most passionate critics of Obama’s decision came from California because of the fear that more manufacturing jobs would go to other states. California’s geography poses unique problems in this regard, the apparent solutions of a smaller population footprint run against traditional growth agendas, real estate development and immigration.
Amazingly, I found a website decribing the same problems. Curiously, it seems to be in Latin. My Latin is not so good, but as best I can:
Californius voterus stupidus Shootis dickus offus Resultas horrificus No jobus
Complainus enourmous Mirroris look inus Arizonus, Nevadaus thankus Astalavistaus Calaforniaus
Amazingly, a friend of mine who blogs must have run across a similar article. It was titled Whyus we brokeus, but he translated the balance:
Capitol Mall here in Sacramento runs about 1/2 mile from the freeway exit to the State Capitol building. It’s two lanes each way divided by a grass median about 50 feet wide. There are a couple of attractive, modern office buildings and several state office buildings of a 1950s utilitarian style of architecture. It’s not stand-out beautiful but it’s not ugly.
The state and city – both dead broke – are about to borrow and spend hundreds of millions to redevelop Capital Mall. They paid $50,000 for a “design†that’s nothing more than a freehand drawing. It includes removing two of the state buildings to make room for an “urban tree canopy concept†and “people spaces.†Replacement state buildings costing many more millions will have to be built somewhere else.
Because this is California the redevelopment process is tediously predictable:
• Years and millions of dollars spent on litigation over “environmental concerns†and demands that parts of the project be set aside to honor labor unions, farm workers, ethnic groups, gays, women, Cesar Chavez, selected (liberal) activists etc. etc.
• After the buildings are torn down there will be a court injunction to halt completion of the project to pursue claims that the land is “hallowed Indian burial ground.â€
• For 2 years there will be open pits where the state buildings now stand as a racially and gender diverse team of archaeologists dig with whisk brooms for “Indian remains and precious artifacts.â€
• Most of the remains and artifacts will be from the Caucasian, Black and Mexican settlers and Chinese railroad laborers of the mid-1800s. “Indian advocates†will claim discrimination and file lawsuits that will be settled with cash payments, a portion of which will end up in Democrat campaign funds.
The last sentence is of course the most obvious.
Being from a steel mill and at times crude and such, this whole cultured Latin thing sometimes is of above my head, ya’ see?
So I’m just gonna say it like I see it. California liberals must be the dumbest mf’s on the face of the earth.
A not to be overlooked source of tsuris in California is its nutty initiative process, which has resulted in 60% of the state’s budget being locked in place by citizen-passed laws. And the partisan warfare in the state legislature is the result of the initiative process:
Steve Jobs was mentioned by Dave as being interested in California.
There’s another billionaire who is throwing millions at CA in hopes of financially restructuring it, a frenchman by the name of Nicolas Berggruen.
BTW, your post, Drew, provided some good afternoon laughs. There was a lot of truth in your humor.
@Drew
Who the hell is still willing to buy California bonds?
Ben –
Not me. But the same could be said for IL.
So often when California’s problems are aired someone brings up Prop 13, the property tax measure, as being the reason for California’s fiscal shortfalls.
Since this measure was passed in 1978, properties have turned over and their property tax is automatically raised to 1% of it’s new sales price, plus another 1/2% for any bond indebtedness, which in this state can be significant. Every year property taxes go up 2%. So, every year property taxes do contribute to state revenues that are incredmentally higher, as well as easily calculated into a homeowner’s bugetary fixed costs.
In a state known for being in the top tier of states having high sales and income taxes, it was a relief to have stability and predictability in one’s property tax bill, that has been provided by Prop 13. If you don’t own property, then you don’t care. However, this state law is the only protection standing between the property owner and the rapacious democratic-run state legislation from having prohibitive property taxes levied on them to pay for any and all over-spending legislated in this state.
The major problems in California lie in underfunded public sector pension/benefit plans, over-regulation and an anti business climate, being a welfare state, water mis-management in the Cental Valley — not in having too little taxation.