Like many families, we sock away some money when we can for our son’s college education. This year, we supplemented the small but growing stash with — imagine that — a bond in California.
Before you laugh, consider another holding: Apple Computer, bought at one third of what it is now.
The right-wing extremist blogs and even the local media editorials here — trying to build political capital rather than real capital — are bashing my home-state with cries that “the sky is falling.” Let them.
Here’s a bullish article from MarketWatch about California’s so-called “Lindsey Lohan”-like spending addiction:
“California bashing is everywhere these days —especially since Californians had the temerity not to vote Republican a few weeks ago.”
“California’s a basket case? The state has one of the highest living standards in the country, yet over the past 10 years the economy has still grown much faster, per person, than the national average. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, it’s up 15% — compared to 8.9% for the U.S. overall.
“It’s grown faster than low tax neighbors like Arizona, Utah or New Mexico. It’s grown three times faster than Texas.
“And this was from 1999 through 2009: In other words from the peak of the dot-com years through the depths of the recession. It managed this growth despite the double blows of the tech and housing busts.”
In addition, venture capitalists are putting a bigger share of their money into California today than they were in 1999.
Oh, and here’s more: “As of 2008 (the most recent year analyzed) state and local taxes in the average state came to about 9.7% of the annual state economy.
“What was it in crazy, liberal, communistical, socialistical, un-American, soviet-style California? Er, 10.5%. That’s right. The burden was all of 0.8 percentage points higher than the average.”
The full article is here.
And here’s the Lindsay Lohan perspective:
Filed under: Uncategorized
I came here and liked it. What I didn’t l like I change or tried to. Folks can do the same. I could have left. I didn’t. Better for it.
Son went to work for Apple because he believed in the company. No bonuses so they gave them a boat load of $6.00 shares. He is in good shape now.
State employees got tired of being baShed all day and night from Gov to Unemployed. They tried to change it; some cases did. They also decided all that whining about salary and benefits was not there fault. Many decided hatred and loudest complainers must be all the way stooping. Otherwise they would have got overpaid GOVT job, too.
All bout how u do look at it and take action, leave or hush up.
End of story.
I am constantly amazed at the limited vision of people who are constantly harping about California businesses moving out of state.
It is true that some California companies move out of state. Its also true that a lot of people confuse companies deciding to expand their operation by shifting production out of state as ‘moving out of state’. Nothing could be further from the truth. When a company is founded in California, which has about 2 times more per capita business creation of the average state,and then expands to Colorado or Texas, it is a success not a failure.
It is also true that some American companies move out of the country. Does the point that an American company moved to Mexico mean that the tax, social and economic policies of Mexico are superior to those in the United States? Well I think that if you lived in Mexico these days you would not think so. Do the critics of the American regulatory and tax structure think we should emulate the policies of China with its state controlled industries, or Mexico with its abysmal environmental record, or Indonesia with its child labor laws?
The truth is that California is still the best place in the country, and one of the best places in the world, to start a business. We are because we have world class universities and educational institutions, we have a highly trained and highly skilled workforce, we are inventive and innovative, we have an amazing diversity of business ideas that are exposed to each other increasing the opportunities for innovation, we are a diverse state that attracts culturally creative people, we have tremendous natural resources, and we have better access to capital than just about any other region of the country.
For every business that ‘moves’ out of state, about ten businesses are created. This is a sign of a solid entrepreneurial environment.
Can we and should we do better–of course we should. But are we the pariah of the US economy that many critics are falsely stating–absolutely not.
BTW, how many bases here were closed during the Bushereening the country took?
Keachie, I believe most of the big bases, like McClellan and Mather, were axed during the Clinton Administration.
Mather 1988
McClellan 1995
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_Realignment_and_Closure
Adobe just announced a major expansion and new campus.
In Utah.
Chris only provided one half of the Adobe story:
This from WSJ: “That dynamic can be seen in Lehi, a suburb here in the state’s capital, where software company Adobe Systems Inc. is set to build a new technology campus that could create up to 1,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. Adobe, based in San Jose, Calif., announced in August it would open the new campus after Utah offered the company a $40.2 million tax credit based on the company meeting its performance goals.”
Bottom line: A big tax credit to meet performance goals. And for background, Intel isn’t meeting some its performance goals in New Mexico — a similar deal — a “lose-lose” for Intel and the state.
Adobe still has the majority of its workforce here, and Apple just announced a major expansion here, as I reported.
I like California for all it has to offer, and I like owning real estate here. Things aren’t perfect, but I’d prefer it to Utah or Indiana any day! And I’m not alone.
“To get the state’s incentive money, Adobe agreed to pay at least 75 percent more than the average county wage in which it expands. That would work out to an average wage of at least $60,000 annually, not including benefits, if it builds a facility in Utah County, state officials say.” — SL Tribune.
Sounds like a win-win in Utah . . . that will be a lot of income tax flowing Utah’s way (as opposed to the Intel example you gave).
Drip, drip, drip.
Sure, that’s the chipper SL Tribune’s home-town boosterism account.
The Albuquerque Journal gave the same chipper account for Intel in New Mexico when it expanded there years back.
But when Intel laid off too many people, failing its performance goals under the taxpayer-funded incentive plan and had to pay the state a penalty, the chipper reporting turned the other way.