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I have a couple questions for you. The two of you are in the mix out in California. California has the 5th largest economy in the world so what is the deal with your economic slow down. Do the politicos totally ignore the industrialists and financiers? Has the vast distance of the Left Coast has from Wall Street created a disconnect in the California economy? Or are the politicos, industrialists, and financiers rolling in so much cash that they don't care? Is it a combination of all the above? Just curious. I guess what I'm asking is who traditionally has been the main drivers of the California economy and what are these prime movers doing now that has caused such a change?

I won't be able to capture the entire essence of California economics in one little post late at night, but here goes anyway.

There is a vast diversity of factors in California that makes this state a leader economically. We have the population and we have a climate that is attractive. We have the breadbasket of the world here with our agriculture. We have tourism galore and Hollywood entertainment. The computer industry are tied in with our Silicon Valley and really has/had a foothold here. And that's only the beginning.

There is so much here already. But then there are factors that drive business away. We have heavy taxation, high property values, heavy regulation, and an unstable and unreliable power situation that has driven business away. The dot-coms became busts when people realized most were never going to make a buck.

California's generous benefits, welfare etc. has brought in many who suck up resources without contributing anything back. The politicians are wildly fiscally irresponsible and the voters just keep voting them in as well voting for expensive bond measures without thinking long-term on how the heck we're going to pay them off. Education is poor, roads are not well-maintained, radical environmentalisism cripples progress...

That's just off the top of my head.