Who Killed California
Who Killed California
I voted for one of them (the governator's been such a disappointment). Joel Kotkin lists five economic forces for disaster in California in Forbes. An excerpt:
1. Arnold SchwarzeneggerThe Terminator came to power with the support of much of the middle class and business community. But since taking office, he's resembled not the single-minded character for which he's famous but rather someone with multiple personalities.
First, he played the governator, a tough guy ready to blow up the dysfunctional structure of government. He picked a street fight against all the powerful liberal interest groups. But the meathead lacked his hero Ronald Reagan's communication skills and political focus. Defeated in a series of initiative battles, he was left bleeding the streets by those who he had once labeled "girlie men."
Next Arnold quickly discovered his feminine side, becoming a kinder, ultra-green terminator. He waxed poetic about California's special mission as the earth's guardian. While the housing bubble was filling the state coffers, he believed the delusions of his chief financial adviser, San Francisco investment banker David Crane, that California represented "ground zero for creative destruction."
Yet over the past few years there's been more destruction than creation. Employment in high-tech fields has stagnated (See related story, "Best Cities For Technology Jobs") while there have been huge setbacks in the construction, manufacturing, warehousing and agricultural sectors.
Driven away by strict regulations, businesses take their jobs outside California even in relatively good times. Indeed, according to a recent Milken Institute report, between 2000 and 2007 California lost nearly 400,000 manufacturing jobs. All that time, industrial employment was growing in major competitive rivals like Texas and Arizona.
With the state reeling, Arnold has decided, once again, to try out a new part. Now he's posturing as the strong man who stands up to dominant liberal interests. But few on the left, few on the right or few in the middle take him seriously anymore. He may still earn acclaim from Manhattan media offices or Barack Obama's EPA, but in his home state he looks more an over-sized lame duck, quacking meaninglessly for the cameras.
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Conan the Agrarian.
Yea. I used to live in CA-years ago. I'm a business owner. And a succesful one at that. I live in MA. MA certainly is no business paradise but we have a lot going on for a state of 5 million residents. We got MIT, Harvard, and many other top-rate universities. My home town has one of the best school districts in the entire nation and home to one of the best-if not the best-college prep schools. There are other advantages. My homes have dropped in values by single digits-not 40-50% as in CA. CA is run by idiots. The bigger idiots are those business leaders who choose to stay in that God-forsaken state. Your legislature is out of control. Your population is low-skilled to a large degree-and a burden on those who have skills and earn a living. There never really was a "CA Dream"-just the perception of one. Now you don't even have that.