California’s Doing Just Fine, Thanks

Someone sent me this meme featuring California Governor Gavin Newsom with the note: He truly is bonkers. Everything he touches winds up in misery.

Well, maybe not everything.

There is the budget surplus of $75.7 billion.  The state is rolling in money.

And yes, California achieving the status two weeks ago of the state with the lowest background infection rate of all 50 (still true as of this writing). Then there is our $11 billion annual  infrastructure spending and the huge work force it employs, as well as the steadily rising real estate market.

In addition being the entertainment capital of the world, California is home to Apple, Google, Tesla, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Chevron, Intel, Cisco Systems, Facebook, and Wells Fargo.  And, as shown here, California’s value of venture capital investment is far more than the other 49 states combined.

Those who concern themselves with matters like planetary sustainability find it meaningful that the Golden State leads the world in cleantech R&D.

Not sure I’d call these symptoms of failure.

It’s funny, since I moved here in 1981, people have been constantly telling me that liberal-minded  social programs, general mismanagement, and overregulation is ruining the state and driving businesses away.  I’ve heard that dozens and dozens of time over the intervening four decades.

The numbers, however, tell the precise opposite story.