Re: From 2003 to 2013, it slightly trailed the country in GSP growth... CA was one of the hardest hit states in terms of the mortgage bubble, and thus had a sl

Re: From 2003 to 2013, it slightly trailed the country in GSP growth... CA was one of the hardest hit states in terms of the mortgage bubble, and thus had a slow recovery. Newer data would probably show better results as the effects of the bubble are dissipating. But the hollowing out of the middle is a common pattern just about everywhere in the "mature industrialized world". The loss of factory jobs and loss of mom-and-pop stores due to the Internet is part of the reason, but may not be all of it. It seems to be growing into a winner-take-all world. Warren Buffett admitted his fund can take risks others can't because it has lots of companies in it to buffer against specific losses. And the big tech co's have a big portfolio of patents to use against startups that threaten them. Even if the claims are dubious, the sheer volume of lawsuits can end a smallbie: "courtroom DOS attack". Being big helps you to get bigger.