Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm a middle to the right of the road individual. And I really don't understand why California is prospering. Especially with all the left's imposed taxes and regulations. I just don't get it. Though I must admit I have to give credit where credit is due.
Congratulations California!!!
Maybe, but it's prosperous enough to keep people flocking to the state.
That said, waking up in California with less disposable income as opposed to waking up in just about every other state is obviously worth the sacrifice.
To each their own. I have been to California many times. I like to visit, but would never live there, especially in a big city. Same reason I would never live in NYC, Chicago, Atlanta or any other big city. I like fresh air and good neighbors. I like that I don't need to lock my doors at night or even when I go away for a few days.
I like to visit NYC too, but would never live there. I see all the houses with bars on their windows. To me that is a little like living in a prison.
To each their own taste.
Dont you think people value high paying jobs as well? If people just valued housing prices and cost of living, then people would flock to El Salvador or Haiti. If Iowa provided the highest paying jobs in the country, why would people move because of regulations or taxes?
The problem is that if we leave everything up to the states, then there will be freeloaders everywhere. For example, a 4% increase in taxes in order to fund universal child care at no out-of-pocket expense for families (in order for it to be easy for women to combine career and family) or more support for disabled people is not bad for the middle class at all. The middle class would save thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetimes. The problem with leaving everything up to the states is that so many states can't provide the services they want (like education, child care or support for the disabled) because of freeloaders.
Yes, of course people value high paying jobs....but high paying jobs don't exist in a vacuum either. It's for each person to decide how to value each aspect of their life and surroundings.
Perhaps some would value a high paying job more than than another other single thing. Others may be willing to sacrifice some pay, and perhaps live in a smaller and more simple home to be near the ocean, or the mountains, or a mild climate.
This issue can't be boiled down down to a few paragraphs, but my attempt was to point out how supply and demand works. If you have what people want, you can charge more for it. If people want to live in California, they will put up with more "pain"....ie, higher taxes, more regulation, higher priced real estate etc... Each state, and hundred of localaties within that state have a "load capacity" for "pain". "Load" being defined as something you must give up to live there, perhaps taxes, regulations, bad climate or other pains of life". If the government, or anything else that state/locality presents, exceeds that "load" capacity, people will move to more friendly surroundings. What constitutes more friendly surroundings depends on the person. Some may more to Alaska, some to North Dakota, some to Arizona, and perhaps some to Iowa.
There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. If you want cheap real estate, it's only cheap because there are more sellers than buyers. What is that ? Because people have something to sell that even fewer people want to buy. Why is real estate so expensive in much of California ? Because there are more, or at least a more equal amount of buyers and sellers, and that drives and keeps the price up. People apparently want to buy at these higher prices what sellers are selling. I don't know how else anyone could explain this. If anyone has any other ideas....please post !
How well would California do without.......... Silicon Valley and Hollywood?
California doesn't even have their own water, the only reason the state can claim agricultural producer is from the states that give them water.
California was never meant to have as many people as it has, it is mostly desert. People keep building and the Liberals keep fixing the books.
Well, we could have copied Kansas' success story, right? The Koch's favorite governor turning the state into a laboratory for the wettest of wet free-market dreams. Drastic cuts to business and income taxes, that should make for a nice zoom along the Laffer curve to prosperity and full coffers and... Oh.
California could probably be bumped up to 4 or 5 if it booted out all the illegals, released non-violent drug offenders and offered them the jobs the illegals once had.
#3 if it legalized pot altogether...
California wouldn't have a farm economy if it weren't for "illegal" ( aka) economic immigrants.
I'm a middle to the right of the road individual. And I really don't understand why California is prospering. Especially with all the left's imposed taxes and regulations. I just don't get it. Though I must admit I have to give credit where credit is due.
Congratulations California!!!
Give credit to Silicon Valley, and Hollywood (funny, I just went to your article and they said the exact same thing). Our agriculture is a disaster and has not fared well. The San Joaquin Valley (the bread basket of America) has been hammered by the drought, with SF law makers turning off the water to save a smelt!
The typical Californian isn't exactly reaping the rewards, though we are as whole paying a lot more taxes in the last 10 years. We've had several billion dollar tax hikes passed since Moonbeam took the reigns again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Loveshiscountry
Because it's based on GDP and GDP is worthless. It doesn't measure quality.
BINGO!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafo1981
California wouldn't have a farm economy if it weren't for "illegal" ( aka) economic immigrants.
We've had "migrant workers" for more than a century. Our agriculture based economy started long before we had any real problem with illegals. The two are entirely different issues.
Yes, of course people value high paying jobs....but high paying jobs don't exist in a vacuum either. It's for each person to decide how to value each aspect of their life and surroundings.
Perhaps some would value a high paying job more than than another other single thing. Others may be willing to sacrifice some pay, and perhaps live in a smaller and more simple home to be near the ocean, or the mountains, or a mild climate.
This issue can't be boiled down down to a few paragraphs, but my attempt was to point out how supply and demand works. If you have what people want, you can charge more for it. If people want to live in California, they will put up with more "pain"....ie, higher taxes, more regulation, higher priced real estate etc... Each state, and hundred of localaties within that state have a "load capacity" for "pain". "Load" being defined as something you must give up to live there, perhaps taxes, regulations, bad climate or other pains of life". If the government, or anything else that state/locality presents, exceeds that "load" capacity, people will move to more friendly surroundings. What constitutes more friendly surroundings depends on the person. Some may more to Alaska, some to North Dakota, some to Arizona, and perhaps some to Iowa.
There is no free lunch. You get what you pay for. If you want cheap real estate, it's only cheap because there are more sellers than buyers. What is that ? Because people have something to sell that even fewer people want to buy. Why is real estate so expensive in much of California ? Because there are more, or at least a more equal amount of buyers and sellers, and that drives and keeps the price up. People apparently want to buy at these higher prices what sellers are selling. I don't know how else anyone could explain this. If anyone has any other ideas....please post !
But you are portraying taxes or regulations as something inherently bad when in every country with a strong democracy, taxes are high and regulations keep the air clean, the water safe and the noise level low. In other words, in countries where public policy closely match public opinion, taxes are high and regulations meet the demands of the people. So people want this. Why? The same reason why people support public schools, public parks, medicare and social security. People support taxes when they see they get something back from it. The US has a huge gap between public policy and public opinion as the donor class buy politicians and set policy.
Taxes is the only way to raise money progressively. The alternative to taxes is toll booths on every road, so the old poor widow pay the same dollar amount as the multi-millionaire to drive on the roads. Do people think this is so great? I dont think so. You pay what you get for as you say. The main reason it is so expensive in CA is because there is ALOT of money circulating in that state unlike in states where pay is lower, like Kansas. Just like the US is more expensive than Mexico.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
