The Fall of the Golden State

In the last decades of the 20th century, California reinvented a brash new capitalism that created new, more innovative archetypes. Today, some of those companies – Apple, Google and Facebook – are among the largest in the world, with assets greater than those of all but a few countries.

The power of these firms, no longer feisty startups, remains formidable on paper, but they are no longer an economic engine for broad-based prosperity. Once seen as evidence of capitalism’s remarkable ability to create mass wealth, the California economy is now characterised by stark inequality and a lack of opportunity, providing grist for those who wish to undermine the market system and tax away the wealth accumulated by its most successful citizens.

To be sure, if you judge an economy by financial assets, California is a super-performer. The huge run-up in tech-company valuations was enough to prompt Bloomberg to suggest that Governor Gavin Newsom should be credited as the ‘maestro’ of the world’s greatest economy.

Such praise could be handy as Newsom tries to propel himself into the White House. Seeking more kudos, the Brylcreem politician has also tapped nearly $20million in state funds to rehabilitate California’s business image – a move that Dan Walters, the dean of California political reporters, rightly described as a ‘contribution from California taxpayers to Newsom’s forthcoming campaign for the presidency’.

Read the full article on Sp!ked.

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