Poltargyst wrote:
From time to time people criticize California on here, but sometimes I wonder if California isn't also providing more opportunities than other states, enough to make the higher taxes worth it. For some at least.
Quote:
If the state were stacked up against nations, California would be the seventh-largest economy, with an equivalent gross domestic product greater than Brazil's. It's not just big, but also booming. California had a 3.29 percent growth rate last year, more than five times that of No. 3 Japan, almost twice No. 4 Germany, about half again as much as No. 5 U.K., almost three times No. 6 France and a third more than No. 1 U.S.
California last year created the most jobs of any state, 483,000, more than the second- and third-most-populous states Florida and Texas combined (they added 257,900 and 175,700) and at a faster rate than any of the world's developed economies. The pace of employment growth was almost triple the rate of job creation for the 19 countries that make up the euro zone and more than 3.5 times that of Japan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The high taxes and ubiquitous regulation critics cite when assailing Golden State government are proving no impediment to business and investment. They may even be a benefit, as public policy and people's preferences converge. Four of the world's 10 largest companies are based in California. Two of them -- Alphabet and Facebook -- were conceived in the past 18 years. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the world's largest bank by market capitalization, routinely outperforms any of its peers from Wall Street.
California produces almost all of the country's almonds, apricots, dates, figs, kiwifruit, nectarines, olives, pistachios, prunes and walnuts among dozens of crops that make it No. 1 in the U.S., with an equivalent GDP from agriculture, forestry and hunting totaling more than $37.7 billion, dwarfing No. 2 Iowa's $12.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. No state comes close to California in manufacturing totaling $255.6 billion. Texas is next with $239.1 billion. The trailing 12-month revenue from California technology companies totaled $732 billion, or 53 percent of all tech revenues in the U.S.
While all of the 10 largest companies by market cap 1 are U.S.-based, in 2009, only one California company made the top 10. That said, 35 of the top 500 are based in California, and their market cap is 11.9 percent of the world's biggest 500. Analysts today are more bullish on California-based companies in the Russell 3000 Index than they are for companies in any other state. The 482 companies in the Russell 3000, which are based in California, produced a total return of 144 percent during the past five years, easily beating the 114 percent return for non-California companies during the same period. Companies based in Texas, which perennially boasts that it is the best state for business with the lowest taxes and least regulation, returned 55 percent, according to Bloomberg data.
With a population approaching 40 million, California is known for its diversity. But it's not just the people; the industries are diverse as well. The state's largest companies are in banking, biotechnology, communications equipment and other technology hardware, health care, online retail, integrated oil and gas, movies and entertainment, semiconductors, and various software fields. In contrast, more than 60 percent of the largest publicly traded Texas firms are tied to oil and gas.
No state comes close to California in recognizing the peril of global warming and addressing it with policies that expand the opportunity to develop clean or alternative energy. Among the 127 North American companies in the Bloomberg Americas Clean Energy Index, 26 are based in California, with average revenue growth of 11 percent -- 2 percent more than the average for the rest of the sector across the continent. Texas has three companies in the group, with revenue growth of 2 percent.
From here :
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles ... nomy-greatOpportunities exist for everybody when there is economic growth, and Cali seems to be busting at the seams.
