[EconProf]

Zeigeist: Where would I go? Nowhere. I can afford to stay here for the weather, amenities, ocean, etc. But only because I sold my real estate investments in San Diego years ago and exchanged into real estate in other states.
There is another lengthy thread going, “Why I am leaving San Diego” with lots of dialogue about the nonmonetary reasons to pick a place to live. They are compelling to me, but only because I can afford it. Now if I were younger, had a family, expected to move into a high tax bracket or wanted to start a business, I’d be looking at business-friendly states that had a better economic future.

[EconProf]

Zeigeist: Where would I go? Nowhere. I can afford to stay here for the weather, amenities, ocean, etc. But only because I sold my real estate investments in San Diego years ago and exchanged into real estate in other states.
There is another lengthy thread going, “Why I am leaving San Diego” with lots of dialogue about the nonmonetary reasons to pick a place to live. They are compelling to me, but only because I can afford it. Now if I were younger, had a family, expected to move into a high tax bracket or wanted to start a business, I’d be looking at business-friendly states that had a better economic future.

[EconProf]

Zeigeist: Where would I go? Nowhere. I can afford to stay here for the weather, amenities, ocean, etc. But only because I sold my real estate investments in San Diego years ago and exchanged into real estate in other states.
There is another lengthy thread going, “Why I am leaving San Diego” with lots of dialogue about the nonmonetary reasons to pick a place to live. They are compelling to me, but only because I can afford it. Now if I were younger, had a family, expected to move into a high tax bracket or wanted to start a business, I’d be looking at business-friendly states that had a better economic future.

[EconProf]

Zeigeist: Where would I go? Nowhere. I can afford to stay here for the weather, amenities, ocean, etc. But only because I sold my real estate investments in San Diego years ago and exchanged into real estate in other states.
There is another lengthy thread going, “Why I am leaving San Diego” with lots of dialogue about the nonmonetary reasons to pick a place to live. They are compelling to me, but only because I can afford it. Now if I were younger, had a family, expected to move into a high tax bracket or wanted to start a business, I’d be looking at business-friendly states that had a better economic future.

[EconProf]

Good points davelj. When you do your research, check out the average compensation for teachers, by state. You’ll find CA teachers are the highest paid in the nation, excepting D.C. This speaks to the power of the teachers union here. And when there are layoffs, the youngest, most enthusiastic, latest hired are laid off first, not the weak teachers in it for a pension.
You’ll also discover that Prop 13 in 1978 resulted in Sacramento taking over much of the financing of schools, and with that funding went the power to dictate much of what happens in local schools. Centralizing power like that almost always creates waste and inefficiency since the local school board know better their own needs. They must accept state dictates and are often forced into programs and hiring needs that don’t directly benefit classroom.

[EconProf]

Good points davelj. When you do your research, check out the average compensation for teachers, by state. You’ll find CA teachers are the highest paid in the nation, excepting D.C. This speaks to the power of the teachers union here. And when there are layoffs, the youngest, most enthusiastic, latest hired are laid off first, not the weak teachers in it for a pension.
You’ll also discover that Prop 13 in 1978 resulted in Sacramento taking over much of the financing of schools, and with that funding went the power to dictate much of what happens in local schools. Centralizing power like that almost always creates waste and inefficiency since the local school board know better their own needs. They must accept state dictates and are often forced into programs and hiring needs that don’t directly benefit classroom.

[EconProf]

Good points davelj. When you do your research, check out the average compensation for teachers, by state. You’ll find CA teachers are the highest paid in the nation, excepting D.C. This speaks to the power of the teachers union here. And when there are layoffs, the youngest, most enthusiastic, latest hired are laid off first, not the weak teachers in it for a pension.
You’ll also discover that Prop 13 in 1978 resulted in Sacramento taking over much of the financing of schools, and with that funding went the power to dictate much of what happens in local schools. Centralizing power like that almost always creates waste and inefficiency since the local school board know better their own needs. They must accept state dictates and are often forced into programs and hiring needs that don’t directly benefit classroom.

[EconProf]

Good points davelj. When you do your research, check out the average compensation for teachers, by state. You’ll find CA teachers are the highest paid in the nation, excepting D.C. This speaks to the power of the teachers union here. And when there are layoffs, the youngest, most enthusiastic, latest hired are laid off first, not the weak teachers in it for a pension.
You’ll also discover that Prop 13 in 1978 resulted in Sacramento taking over much of the financing of schools, and with that funding went the power to dictate much of what happens in local schools. Centralizing power like that almost always creates waste and inefficiency since the local school board know better their own needs. They must accept state dictates and are often forced into programs and hiring needs that don’t directly benefit classroom.

[EconProf]

Good points davelj. When you do your research, check out the average compensation for teachers, by state. You’ll find CA teachers are the highest paid in the nation, excepting D.C. This speaks to the power of the teachers union here. And when there are layoffs, the youngest, most enthusiastic, latest hired are laid off first, not the weak teachers in it for a pension.
You’ll also discover that Prop 13 in 1978 resulted in Sacramento taking over much of the financing of schools, and with that funding went the power to dictate much of what happens in local schools. Centralizing power like that almost always creates waste and inefficiency since the local school board know better their own needs. They must accept state dictates and are often forced into programs and hiring needs that don’t directly benefit classroom.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is a lot in your post I agree with, especially our tendency to make decisions based only on short run considerations while ignoring the long term impact. “Short-termism” prompts bad behavior at the personal level (instant gratification, buying on credit, addictions, diet), and in politics. The choice by Republican and Democrat city council members a decade ago to massively increase pension benefits gained them momentary popularity with the far-thinking union members. The public, and most of the economists and accountants who slept on the job, ignored the long-run costs we are now about to pay.
Likewise our state politicians, of whatever stripe, are famous for budgetary ledgerdermain, annually kicking the can into the future. Their tricks to postpone or hide costs and accelerate revenue collections are legendary, and make us the butt of jokes.
You have correctly pointed to some of the remedies for these past decisions, and they will be painful and costly because we have been slow to wake up to short-termism. Better late than never.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is a lot in your post I agree with, especially our tendency to make decisions based only on short run considerations while ignoring the long term impact. “Short-termism” prompts bad behavior at the personal level (instant gratification, buying on credit, addictions, diet), and in politics. The choice by Republican and Democrat city council members a decade ago to massively increase pension benefits gained them momentary popularity with the far-thinking union members. The public, and most of the economists and accountants who slept on the job, ignored the long-run costs we are now about to pay.
Likewise our state politicians, of whatever stripe, are famous for budgetary ledgerdermain, annually kicking the can into the future. Their tricks to postpone or hide costs and accelerate revenue collections are legendary, and make us the butt of jokes.
You have correctly pointed to some of the remedies for these past decisions, and they will be painful and costly because we have been slow to wake up to short-termism. Better late than never.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is a lot in your post I agree with, especially our tendency to make decisions based only on short run considerations while ignoring the long term impact. “Short-termism” prompts bad behavior at the personal level (instant gratification, buying on credit, addictions, diet), and in politics. The choice by Republican and Democrat city council members a decade ago to massively increase pension benefits gained them momentary popularity with the far-thinking union members. The public, and most of the economists and accountants who slept on the job, ignored the long-run costs we are now about to pay.
Likewise our state politicians, of whatever stripe, are famous for budgetary ledgerdermain, annually kicking the can into the future. Their tricks to postpone or hide costs and accelerate revenue collections are legendary, and make us the butt of jokes.
You have correctly pointed to some of the remedies for these past decisions, and they will be painful and costly because we have been slow to wake up to short-termism. Better late than never.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is a lot in your post I agree with, especially our tendency to make decisions based only on short run considerations while ignoring the long term impact. “Short-termism” prompts bad behavior at the personal level (instant gratification, buying on credit, addictions, diet), and in politics. The choice by Republican and Democrat city council members a decade ago to massively increase pension benefits gained them momentary popularity with the far-thinking union members. The public, and most of the economists and accountants who slept on the job, ignored the long-run costs we are now about to pay.
Likewise our state politicians, of whatever stripe, are famous for budgetary ledgerdermain, annually kicking the can into the future. Their tricks to postpone or hide costs and accelerate revenue collections are legendary, and make us the butt of jokes.
You have correctly pointed to some of the remedies for these past decisions, and they will be painful and costly because we have been slow to wake up to short-termism. Better late than never.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is a lot in your post I agree with, especially our tendency to make decisions based only on short run considerations while ignoring the long term impact. “Short-termism” prompts bad behavior at the personal level (instant gratification, buying on credit, addictions, diet), and in politics. The choice by Republican and Democrat city council members a decade ago to massively increase pension benefits gained them momentary popularity with the far-thinking union members. The public, and most of the economists and accountants who slept on the job, ignored the long-run costs we are now about to pay.
Likewise our state politicians, of whatever stripe, are famous for budgetary ledgerdermain, annually kicking the can into the future. Their tricks to postpone or hide costs and accelerate revenue collections are legendary, and make us the butt of jokes.
You have correctly pointed to some of the remedies for these past decisions, and they will be painful and costly because we have been slow to wake up to short-termism. Better late than never.

[EconProf]

CA renter, there is plenty of blame to go around, and in hindsight both Democrats and Republicans made plenty of mistakes.
But we have to get beyond Republican and Democrat labels, as I have tried to point out. Some responses to me don’t get that and cite instances of Republican spending excesses which actually makes my case. True conservatives want to limit government power, expand personal freedom, and allow businesses and individuals to create and prosper or fail according to their own merits. Allowing Fannie and the big banks to leverage 30 to 1 with the assurance that any downturn would be bailed out by the government is not what a conservative could stomach. But it became the prevailing view during the bubble years.
Now let’s get back to the original subject of this thread: CA’s ballooning deficit and our political environment. I haven’t seen anything in your response or that of others to counter the points I made about California’s likely economic and political future.

[Author]

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