Golden State may be blinded by its luster

[XemaSab]

Joel Kotkin
Sunday, February 25, 2007

For much of the past century, California has often seen itself -- and been seen by others -- as America's avant-garde state. John Gunther, writing in his famous "Inside USA" in 1946, gushingly described it as "the most spectacular and most diversified American state ... so ripe, golden." Recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger compared California to "the ancient city-states of Rome and Sparta," praising it as "the harmonious, the prosperous state, the cutting-edge state."

Perhaps it's time to ditch the celebratory rhetoric and take a closer look at the sober realities. Our magnificent state may still be the home to Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the nation's largest port complex and the world's richest agricultural valleys, but by many critical measurements the state is slipping.

The most obvious signs are economic. Although far from moribund, the state may not be as fundamentally strong as its boosters, including the governor, suggest. The state rate of GDP growth over the past decade has been strong, ranking fourth in the nation, but California has been losing ground in the new millennium. In 2004-05, it fell to 17th, behind not only fast-growing Arizona and Nevada but also Oregon, Washington and rival "nation-state" Texas.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/25/ING0BO934F1.DTL

[XemaSab]

1. kick

n/t

[marmar]

2. Interesting piece. K&R!

:kick: