2 ms·

if it's true that businesses are leaving california (and i'm not sure that it is, since the guy he's citing runs a business pertaining to business relocation --

if it's true that businesses are leaving california (and i'm not sure that it is, since the guy he's citing runs a business pertaining to business relocation -- he is not a disinterested observer here), there could be a hundred different reasons to explain it. one possible explanation is that california is currently in the process of immolating its public school and university system, which is a direct result of the state government's inability to take in sufficient revenues -- in other words, it may be that taxes are too low. we also don't know the condition of the businesses that are leaving (are they all doomed to fail anyway?) or ratio of businesses that left to the number of businesses created. one red flag is that the author is currently on the payroll of the american enterprise institute, a right-wing, pro-big-business "think tank" which is notorious for turning even the thinnest factoids into pro-big-business propaganda.

mkramlich 15y ago
sounds like we had a similar reaction! (referring to my top-level comment elsewhere on this page)
jessriedel 15y ago
I agree on all points about the possibly cherry-picked data and the author's motivations. But this > one possible explanation is that california is currently in the process of immolating its public school and university system seems silly. However unwise disinvesting in education may be, it takes many years to see the effects. Businesses aren't going to decided to go through the costly process of relocating now just because the elementary school system is going to produce terrible workers entering the job market in a decade.
- jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
  It may be comforting to assume that the consequences of this won't occur until far in the future, but California schools have been underfunded for many years already, and the effects are with us today. I live in San Francisco, where the school year has already been shortened by a week each year because of budget cuts. Many of our friends are moving (and in some cases taking their businesses with them) because of this.

mkramlich 15y ago

sounds like we had a similar reaction! (referring to my top-level comment elsewhere on this page)

jessriedel 15y ago

I agree on all points about the possibly cherry-picked data and the author's motivations. But this > one possible explanation is that california is currently in the process of immolating its public school and university system seems silly. However unwise disinvesting in education may be, it takes many years to see the effects. Businesses aren't going to decided to go through the costly process of relocating now just because the elementary school system is going to produce terrible workers entering the job market in a decade.

jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
It may be comforting to assume that the consequences of this won't occur until far in the future, but California schools have been underfunded for many years already, and the effects are with us today. I live in San Francisco, where the school year has already been shortened by a week each year because of budget cuts. Many of our friends are moving (and in some cases taking their businesses with them) because of this.