Some level of government regulation will always be necessary in today’s society but a report out late last week found that regulations in the state of California total almost $500 billion…almost one third of the state’s gross domestic product. Incredible.
And what do the citizens of the Golden State get for all their regulatory aggressiveness? One of the worst performing public school systems, one of the highest state unemployment rates, man-made droughts in the most productive farming region of the country and a bankrupt state government. This is all the sadder considering that just one generation ago California had the best public education system in the world, some of the lowest unemployment, almost the highest per capita income and the best business climate in the country. It was the envy of the country. Now Alabama outperforms California in almost every category.
