What does it really have?


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Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.28] on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at 15:59:44 :

In Reply to: California has tremendous wealth. It won't fail. posted by gmharris [72.219.148.98] on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at 13:19:48 :

It has agriculture, which after a decade of drought is now embroiled in the fight of its life with California's cities over access to scarce water. It has 2 big ports, which will always be big ports. It has "Silicon Valley", but that's cruising on inertia now that manufacturing is gone and the university system that used to be excellent is now between mediocre and inaccessible. It has the movie business, which it can probably keep as long as the skies are sunny, but honestly, both tech and movies are "intellectual property" which could go just about anywhere in the world.

Mostly what keeps California afloat is a very high state income tax and a cachet that causes a lot of very rich people to keep living there despite the high taxes. Sustainable? Maybe. As long as SoCal and San Fran remain cool.

But when I read about how California functioned under its century or two of hidebound Spanish rule (literally -- all they exported were cattle hides) I can't help but think that's what it's reverting back to. The modern bureaucracy is almost as intransigent as the old Spanish one. Wealth and power have concentrated in a few big families. There's no meaningful manufacturing left. And abundant natural resources are left unexploited, albeit for different reasons now than during Spanish times.



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