My instinct is to say that this is another case of correlation not implying causation. On the surface, we have two facts: * California has a huge budget defic

My instinct is to say that this is another case of correlation not implying causation. On the surface, we have two facts: * California has a huge budget deficit * California is declining economically I don't doubt that these two facts are true. Nor do I doubt that both facts affect each other. However, California is one of (if not the) largest economies in the US. I seriously doubt the situation is this simple. To place this solely at the feet of the state's progressive politics is a bit partisan. To me, this reads like a set of conservative talking points dressed up as an intellectual policy paper. EDIT: Not coincidentally, City Journal is published by a conservative think-tank: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Institute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Institute