Below is my column in The Hill on how California, New York, Virginia, and other blue states are becoming textbook studies of the price of ignoring basic economics principles. Indeed, these states could become magnets for disaster tourism as economic students come to watch the market implode in real time.
Here is the column:
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the “first partner” of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), is under fire for stating that she takes her children to conservative and Republican states so that they can see misogyny and racism firsthand.
Putting aside her hellscape phantasm, California may be a draw for a different group: curious economists in the mood for disaster tourism.
Just as people travel to Hawaii to see volcanic explosions in real time, they can visit California to see economic implosions. California is a laboratory for students to see what happens when you ignore basic economic principles outside of the classroom.
California is now the leader in the economic race to the bottom, as its politicians drain away what remains of decades of accumulated social capital, revenue and residents from their state.
Other blue states, including Washington and now also Virginia, are following suit, embracing disastrous policies such as soaring taxes, rent-controls and wage increases. The rise in minimum wages is a case in point. Democratic politicians from New York to California are pushing for a $30 minimum hourly wage for workers. Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Democratic legislators in California herald their mandatory increases as providing a “living wage” for workers. In Los Angeles, a law requires hourly wages in the hotel and airport industries to rise by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.
There is no question that workers are struggling with the high cost of living in California. But blindly raising taxes and minimum wages will exacerbate these problems, not eliminate them.
A recent report by researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz found evidence of precisely what many economists had warned about in the state’s mandatory wage floors. Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, explained that they found “a plethora of negative outcomes, such as higher menu prices for consumers, reductions in employee working hours, widespread elimination of overtime, and loss of benefits for employees.”
In other words, faced with mandated higher labor costs, businesses shrank their labor forces and raised their prices.
None of this is a surprise. Yet even amid such findings, Democrats are doubling down. They believe that because they claim to be the champions of the working class, it does not matter how many people they put out of work.
One line stood out in the report: “Further decreases in employee opportunities are being driven by automation, and the adoption of labor replacement technologies is accelerating.”
In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discussed not only the economic changes unfolding due to AI and robotics but also the expected political miscalculations that are most likely to fuel job losses and wasteful spending. Lo and behold, California is rapidly implementing those very policies.
We are facing one of the greatest job losses in our history. We have to act rationally and quickly to make the changes needed to prepare for this new economy. California is doing the opposite, accelerating those changes with self-destructive policies.
Newsom and his colleagues are actually providing additional incentives for struggling industries to adopt robotic and automated alternatives to human labor. The Hotel Association of Los Angeles recently commissioned a study that found hotels have eliminated or expect to eliminate 6 percent of positions in that city. That trend is expected to increase in the coming years.
The free market is responding to incentives. Companies are now developing and even selling kiosks for check-ins and robots designed to clean hotel rooms and serve in restaurants. Meanwhile, California is experiencing an exodus of wealthy taxpayers and businesses due to threats of wealth taxes and rising costs of everything from gas to construction.
Rather than work to reduce the cost of living and improve housing construction, California politicians are increasing taxes and mandating higher wages under the same tax-and-spend approach to economic development.
In New York, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is promising a $30-per-hour wage. Employers would have the choice of $25 an hour if they provide qualifying benefits. But they also have other choices: reduce their labor forces or leave the state. Many businesses in both California and New York seem to be making those choices instead.
In both states, costs are also rising for consumers, making the situation even more dire for displaced workers.
The fact that Democrats are doubling down on these policies highlights the real problem. The failure of these economic policies tends only to increase demands from the same politicians for more market regulation.
Figures like Mamdani will only insist that others are preventing citizens from enjoying “the warmth of collectivism.” He recently admitted that he will not be able to provide the free buses he promised, at least not this year. He blames New York state’s refusal to let him raise taxes further in New York City.
Economist Milton Friedman said, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” The problem is that these policies are motivated by political rather than economic realities.
As workers lose hours and jobs thanks to mush-brained but well-intentioned policies, they find themselves even more dependent on government and the very politicians who caused the problems in the first place.
Beyond these politicians who find success in failure, the only group looking at a rosy future in California is the rising class of robotic workers.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
GOP and Trump Need to
End Federal Aid to cities, states, non-profits and colleges
Outlaw Public Unions the Democrats Army
Democrats destroy on purpose…STOP rewarding them!
I used to love San Francisco, but like a dozen years ago, I was stepping over bodies on the sidewalks with my small kids…were they dead, drugged, ?
I never went back.
Look at the 2nd tier cities, newark, baltimore, philly, etc….WOULD NEVER GO. They have been Destroy due to generations of DEMOCRATS!
We lived in CA for almost 25 years. SF was just a quick hop away and used to be a great day trip with the kids. Museums, beach, the park, dinner and shopping in Japan Town. In the later years we basically stopped going there unless visitors insisted. We didn’t discourage them, just let them see for themselves.
Trump is having a mental health episode right now. He’s been posting on social media all night. He posted at:
9:49pm: AI Jesus photo, in which he is portrayed as Jesus
9:50pm: AI image of Trump tower on moon
10:10pm: dumb meme
10:32pm: news clip)
10:53pm: news clip
12:43am: announcing Hormuz blockade
2:35am: article about Biden
2:36am: article on naval blockade
2:37am: article on Rep. Swalwell
2:37am: posted the same article about Biden again
2:38am: article on his ballroom
4:10am: article on Iran
He’s not sleeping.
He’s pretending to be Jesus.
He’s posting all night.
He is experiencing a psychotic break.
Please tell us what democrat genius plan he should instead be implementing. We know you hate Trump, tell us what you love about the left and how they’re the solution to your problems. You can’t.
The left is basically a CCP-run organized criminal operation. Want to know why you don’t hear much about ‘the mob’ anymore??? Because it took over the left.
Apparently you are suffering from a psychotic episode as well.
I guess that is a defining feature of MAGA cult membership, a requirement for admission.
If by psychotic episode, you mean I thought for a very brief moment that you could answer the question, then maybe you’re right.
The defining feature of MAGA is simply not being a government teat-suckler nor an educated but ignorant self-loathing white woman, but you knew that.
f Most mental health issues involve a disconnect from reality – Turley’s post today demonstrates ONE of the many clear disconnects between the left and reality.
As Adam Smith noted 250 years ago – “all money is a matter of beleif”.
Standard of living does NOT rise when people have more money.
It rises when more that humans value is produced with less human effort.
$30, $100, $10,000 – you can set wages wherever you want.
If we do no produce more things people want – standard of living declines, no matter what you are paid.
This is just ONE means by which it is the left that is CLEARLY suffering from psychosis – disconnect from reality.
I’m reminded of the Hitchhiker’s Guide scene in which the B Ark denizens, newly landed on what we don’t yet know is Earth, declare leaves to be legal tender. So suddenly everyone is fabulously wealthy… and at the same time it takes a small forest to buy one biscuit from the ship’s stores (or thereabouts).
A hallmark of Trump is that he doesn’t sleep but a few hours a night. Since always. A hallmark of myself when my work load demands it is also to work all night, since always. I guess that is so foreign to lazy people, Anonymous thinks such dedication is madness. Soooo…..How can we help his or her mental illness, but suggest they help for severe TDS?
Glee
It is quite obvious that he sleeps very little at night.
The problem is that he is obviously not doing anything constructive. He is obviously watching TV all night and furiously posting nonsensical comments on Truth Social.
This explains why he sleeps during the day at cabinet meetings.
So, the bottom line is that he doesn’t do anything constructive at anytime.
At night he watches TV and posts nonsensical comments on social media, and then he sleeps during the day.
pining for the days of biden when sleeping day and night was de rigure!
I of not care if the president does absolutely nothing – so long as the country is well run.
One of the huge differences between Trump’s first and 2nd term is the broad number of key people he has in place making his agenda happen.
His job – like on the Aprentice is the fire those who do not live up to expectations.
John Say
So when Biden supposedly let other people run the country, that was a huge problem according to MAGA dogma.
But when Trump does nothing and lets other people run the country, then that is a problem.
COMPLETE AND UTTER HYPOCRISY !!!!!!!!
We know who is running the country. We see them on TV, in front of Congress, giving speeches, doing their jobs.
Biden admin, no one knew who was running the country or in charge of the auto pen.
Glee, you nailed it. When you have by- name responsibility for an outcome, you treat sleep as a habit.
Something much more interesting, Pop star Britney Spear voluntarily enters substance abuse treatment facility after DUI arrest
https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/pop-star-britney-spear-voluntarily-enters-substance-abuse-treatment-facility?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=offthepress&utm_campaign=home
So Britney Spears is pulling a Tiger Woods?
BITD Woods was a Black hero on the order of Michael Jordan. Stanford-educated, good-looking, witty, a master of his profession.
Now, he’s too dumb to realize when he should take an Uber home.
The TDS is strong in this one.
“…mush-brained but well-intentioned policies…”
I’d have to say that the Left does not, at this time, deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Exactly. The left is an organized criminal organization, likely headed by CCP money.
The Democrat are NOT the champions of the “working class” in general. They are the champions of the segment of the working class that depends on them for patronage jobs – think public sector unions, particularly teachers, and DEI – which is patronage for racial minorities, particularly black women, who are the D’s most loyal voters.
“Democrats are doubling down. They believe that because they claim to be the champions of the working class, it does not matter how many people they put out of work.”
The segment of the population that makes up the Dem base May work, but as a group, are not ANY part of the working class. Dems are the party of all these groups: baby murderers, Christian and Jew haters, illegals and hostile foreign born, rioters and looters, criminals, drug dealers and addicts, mentally deranged liberal white women, sex traffickers, Hollywood whores, Academia fools, media morons, sexual perverts (LGBTQ, trans, pedos), corrupt judges and politicians, child mutilators, corrupt unions, the mentally low functioning or gaslit, and impressionable young people who often mature past Dem nonsense.
I am not saying Republicans (or RINOs) don’t have ANY of the people in the above groups, but they are untypical and make up a very low percentage of the Republican base. But finding rational, patriotic, honest, and politically knowledgeable Democrats with good moral values is as rare as hen’s teeth. I knew a good many 30 years ago, but most have become Independents or Republicans or given up and dropped out of voting in disgust. In the last ten years, I have never met a single Democrat who seemed “Normal.” Not one.
Good morning, Professor!
Hey – if you REALLY want to take a trip to the land of economic disaster – why not turn your gaze on the White House? I hear that the president started a war in the middle east, drove up oil prices because he was too stupid to realize the Straight of Hormuz would be closed, has deported hundreds of thousands of gainfully employed, tax-paying immigrants who used to keep American farms working and imposed capricious tariffs on all the former US allies – all of which is massively inflationary! Since you are so interested in the economy all of a sudden, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these things.
Have a good day!
Something much more interesting, Impeachment Bombshell: Secret memos expose Ukraine accuser’s bias, hearsay, and false claim
“Our adversarial system of justice requires the government to turn all exculpatory evidence over to the accused. That’s especially true when lawmakers seek to remove a duly elected president through impeachment and a Senate trial,” said famed Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump’s defense lawyers in the case.
“The evidence about the bias and credibility of the whistleblower who started the scandal should have been front and center in the 2019 impeachment, but it was hidden by bureaucrats and that was a disservice to justice and to the American people,” Dershowitz said.
https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/ukraine-bombshell-long-secret-memos-expose-whistleblower-bias-hearsay
The only ICE farm raid our legacy media covered was on a SoCal pot farm.
That’s a few dozen workers, not “hundreds of thousands.”
Further, if ICE deported “hundreds of thousands” of farm workers, that suggests they deported at least 5 million, because only 4%, at most, of illegals work in ag, and they are the most geographically speadout workforce.
There are at least two things going on with Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand. One is that it can slap or punch economic miscreants. The other is the relationship between AI and robotics, and shrinking birthrate. Up to now capitalism has been dependent on a geometrically increasing population to create consumer demand and growth. There is a body of thinking that AI can increase productivity so much that we need not fear shrinking population. Some of us believe serious kinks of AI need solving first. Beginning with confident understanding of
Why there are kinks. The traditional Invisible Hand puts some of us between hard copy and paperback.
Mike – all automated improvements in productivity are not AI,
Further too much of the fixation on AI is about theuse of AI in areas that are not important.
And on the fear that AI will actually duplicate human thought.
The latter may happen – but not in my lifetime, and not likely in my childrens.
AI does not Think. It pattern matches at extremely high speed.
Are you concerned about AI being used to design bridges ?
I am not. Structural engineering is not politically controversial. The information AI is trained on has very very ver few errors and biases.
I am not concerned about self driving cars – while imperfect they already have 1/100th the accident rate of humans.
I am not more concerned about robots on production lines than I am about spinning jennies 250 years ago.
Producing more that humans value with less human effort is the ONLY way standard of living has ever improved.
There are lots of problems with AI – but these are narrowly confined and will likely fix themselves over time.
AI is not omputers thinking. It is computers SOMETIMES solving problems in a way different from the way they did in the past.
Turley’s characterization of what Jennifer Seibel Newsom said is woefully out of context. Not surprising since it is Turley after all. A bit strange too since the controversial comment was made back in 2023, a fact conveniently left out by Turley.
This is a more accurate description of what she said, “She described the trip as an educational experience to teach her children about the “often-hidden truths of history” and to witness “pervasive” issues like racism, sexism, and bullying firsthand.”
Conservative pundits lost their minds and started making all kinds of assumptions and taking offense at simple family outing showing historical truths. Of course Turley chose to use this overblown conservative hysteria that turned into a means of going off into a rage over something that was not really what those pundits portrayed it to be.
X, that is lame, even for you. I hate to break it to you but this happening way, way, way back in 2023 (?) doesn’t change the tenor of the point at all. Also, your quote of her statement also doesn’t make her sound any different than what Turley was saying about her.
X will defend the “First Partner” the way he defended Joe Biden….right up until she helps the Dems lose the next election. It is laughable.
The girls are at it again!
Hullbobby, Turley made it seem like she said this recently. It was nearly three years ago.
It definitely changes the tenor of the whole argument. Citing a comment out of context and three years too late only shows Turley is being disingenuous.
What you cannot do is refute the fact that what Turley said she said is not true. Not even close. You want to hear what you want to hear. Turley already set up the context for you so YOU don’t have to think at all. Just react and get into your anti-left rage.
Of course I would defend her. Especially when her statement is being taken out of context and used as rage bait to hook folks like you. You’re being taken for a ride Hullbobby and you’re gladly going on it with a huge oblivious grin on your face.
Jenifer Newsomes remarks are a small side argument to this article – no the time the remarks were made does not change the whole article.
It is not consequential. The Newsomes are just poster children for left wing nut failure
I want a $buck for everytime the X says “disingenuous.” It was a word he copycatted from the getgo and uses it almost every post. Guess he can’t think up another word, only copy and pastes and rewrites AI
You can see his face?
The worst bullying occuring in recent years has been perpetrated by the Left, pAntifags, BLM, and other so-called “woke” activists. Guess what Lefties? We’re awake now and don’t give damn what names you call us. Let’s call it zero tolerance for your irrational nonsense. Leave the kids alone.
Oh man – I love love love love when stereotypical Turley readers decide to remove the white hoods and show their faces. It’s so much more honest this way.
Like I said, your name-calling doesn’t work anymore. Bugger off.
Did you write this? “pAntifags” Just wanted to make sure that this was you calling someone a name?
Not a name…not that, anything but that. Better go run to your teacher, or if that hit too close to the bone for you, go burn a Federal building.
Hey OldFish…did you notice when Anonymous found we don’t give a tinker’s dam about being called a racist, the coward switched to liberal bimbo tactic #2…feigned “intellectual oneupmanship.?” Brahahahah…🤣😂😅.
Don’t bother telling anonymous that a “smart liberal” is an oxymoron. They don’t debate, they just pontificate whatever they heard on fake news. Anonymous is too gaslit to comprehend reality.
Just look at them.
Looks like you got your histrionics mixed-up with your history again, classic libtard.
We love our white hoods. We need more of them. Just as a heads up…your racism trump card is telling…and also DOA. We white hooders are done with that. Racism actually seems like an intelligent inclusion based on empirical evidence not tainted with political correct BS.
You hate your white self…because you were told to do so. Idiot.
Ms Newsom would only take her children to red states to observe all those “evils” if she thought they were actually prevasive and visible in those state while not in her own. THAT is the point of the criticism. She is deluded, obviously, and that likely extends to her husband and colors their judgement.
Oh puh-lease, pal. The interpretation of a person’s intent is defined by the content of their character illustrated by the total theme of life and other comments. Trying to recast NewScum’s comments as neutral is absolutely laughable. Her life defines her intent…not your whitewashing attempts to defend her.
Clicking on the link to the April 6 article Turley cited, we learn that Frau Newsom is CURRENTLY under fire for remarks she made two years ago. Why now?
Her hubby will be unemployed come January, and thus will be able to focus completely on running for the White House, which has s been only a spare time activity since 2021.
If Newsome wanted to show their children Racism – they should have stayed in California.
By far the worst Genocide in north america was that of th California Indians.
California has the worst income inequality in the country. It has the largest number of billionaires and millionaries as well as the largest number of poor as well as homeless.
Conservatives are Hysterical – hysterically laughing at you.
Please please, keep up this nonsense.
The disconnect of the left from reality is hysterically funny
Hotels in blue states (and in red state blue cities) might try a multi-rung room price approach. Less expensive rooms will be just that – a room, for which the occupant must bring his own linens. Want a clean bathroom? Bring your own cleaning supplies. Changes to room temperature desired? Pay to adjust every degree. Water use over a minimum number of gallons? Pay for that too, and pay extra if hot water is needed. “Full service,” whether with a human or robot housekeeper, will be as available and affordable as is first class airfare- out of the price point of most travelers.
having just returned from a blue state hotel, the service they should provide is sidewalk cleaning and clearing.
The left coast urban “nice” hotel is simply an oasis, much like the $20M SF, CA houses where the urban effete can avoid the sights only discussed at black-tie fundraisers. Oh, and the left coast has the nice lefty places…go to Baltimore, St Louis, Detroit, etc…ugh – high education spending in those places…lol.
Politicians always lead with “good intentions,” but that is the whole problem. They sell the moral story and never show their work. They promise outcomes they may not even have constitutional authority to deliver, and they skip the hard question of whether their scheme violates anyone’s rights.
Even if you clear that first hurdle and say, fine, this idea passes constitutional muster, you still are not done. You do not start by promising the output. You start by defining the inputs and constraints you are willing to use, within the Constitution and basic economics, and only then do you design the process that might produce that output.
That is basic systems thinking. You define the end state you want, you define the inputs and constraints, you design a process you think can reach it, and then you test whether that process has the capability and capacity to produce the result. You constantly measure, monitor, and improve. You also watch for harm. If the process is creating damage or missing the mark, you revise the process. You do not just dump more “good intentions” on the front end.
Deming said, “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”
When wage mandates, tax hikes, and heavy regulation repeatedly produce fewer jobs, shorter hours, higher prices, more automation, and businesses and taxpayers leaving, that is not an accident or “bad faith” by shadowy villains. That is the system doing exactly what it is built to do, no matter how much fairy dust they throw into the speeches. In Deming’s language, what these people are doing now is not improvement, it is tampering. They keep changing inputs and rules without any stable understanding of the process and without serious measurement.
Real improvement is PDCA: plan, do, check, act. You plan the change in light of the Constitution and basic economics, you do it on a scale where you can see what happens, you check the results honestly, and you act to adjust or abandon the approach.
What we get instead is “plan, do, fail, double down.” They never check and they never admit the system they built cannot deliver what they promised. And voters keep rewarding the story about intentions and giveaways instead of demanding results.
Many red states rely heavily on “old economy” sectors like agriculture, mining, and oil extraction rather than “knowledge economy” sectors like tech and finance.
Agriculture and mining are highly susceptible to global price swings. In 2025, for instance, Mississippi saw its GDP decline by 0.9% specifically due to agricultural challenges, even as the national economy grew by 3.8%. Thanks to Trump’s tariff fiasco.
Several red states are among the lowest spenders on education per student. While some states like Mississippi have seen recent gains in reading scores, the long-term trend shows that states failing to attract high-paying tech and financial employers often lack the educated workforce those industries require.
High-skill workers often leave rural or lower-spending states for urban hubs that offer higher wages, further depleting the “human capital” necessary to drive a modern GDP.
Cities are inherently more productive due to “agglomeration effects”—the concentration of infrastructure, specialized labor, and diverse businesses. Because red states tend to have fewer large cities, they naturally have a lower per capita GDP compared to states with massive urban engines like New York or California.
Red state policies often prioritize low taxes and deregulation to attract businesses, but this can create a cycle of underfunding for social safety nets and infrastructure.
Professor Turley’s attacks on blue states seems to be about mocking or criticizing states that are generally more successful than red states. Sounds like just a reason to bash blue states for the benefit of MAGA and conservative readers.
Ag has always been and always will be the sector of the economy that fluctuates the most. It is also the most critical sector. Try as I might I have yet to figure out how to eat a computer chip.
You’re missing the point. Trump, the stable genius, is hurting that sector with his tariffs. Essentially throwing farmers who he claimed he would support under the bus.
Soy farmers are going bankrupt, cattle ranchers are now competing against beef from Argentina after Trump made a deal to buy ‘cheaper’ beef from them. Red States who often support candidates, morons, like Trump wonder why they are STILL struggling. Because Trump. Republicans are in serious trouble for the midterms and it the polls are not helping him at all.
There are no “soy farmers.” Soy is something row croppers plant in order to replenish the soil after growing corn. They will also plant clover between the rows. Having a market for soy is pure bonus.
Trump proposed eliminated income taxes on everyone making under 250K/yr in return for Tarrifs.
That is economically viable. and appealing to the vast majority of people.
All taxes are harmful. Tarriffs are less harmful than income taxes.
Farmers are doing fine – Mississippis’ ONE qtr problem was WEATHER – not tarrifs.
“Soy farmers are going bankrupt”
Soy 12/31/2024 974
4/2026 1174
US soy production is up more than 10%
“cattle ranchers are now competing against beef from Argentina after Trump made a deal to buy ‘cheaper’ beef from them.”
Great. Lower prices
Once again a post rife with major errors, and oblivious to economics.
I fin it odd – you FALSELY claim that US soy and meat prices are in decline as if were that true it would be bad rather than good.
All of us want cheaper food – and todaygreat food is a small percent of the family budget of ordinanry people.
I keep telling you CONSSTANTLY that the function of free markets is to turn scarcity to abundance and to make things Cheaper.
Adjust for inflation and almost everything is cheaper – especially over the long run.
Many things are cheaper without adjusting.
That is what we want – more of what humans value for less human effort.
Americans will buy Argentine beef if it is good quality and lower priced. And they should.
US producers will have to produce more efficiently or go out of business.
If US producers can do so – they can undercut Argentine beef in argentina.
Ag is actually relatively stable – barring the whims of nature and human disruptions like war.
Why the left believes that government spending is a measure of success or progress is as laughable as it is absurd and disproven. Ask them to show you a public school district that produced better student outcomes after it was provided more money…maybe they can find one of the thousands of districts that did not. Ask them to show you the correlation between “safety-net” spending and quality of life and they can not. Frankly, one of the biggest items in government spending that attracts people to democrat-run areas is waste, fraud, and abuse spending – you want to attract a bunch of worthless, loud-mouthed, school administrators, just spend on them like blue states do.
A bunch of cultural attractions in an area built before the modern left took over that area are nice, but when you have to crawl over or dodge bullets or send your kid to a school full of blue-haired idiots from the democrat base, maybe you just visit. Could be why people who can leave leave, and everyone knows where they’re going…red states.
Fun fact – government spending has increased under Trump II. Much of this is in interest payments on the national debt which he continues to inflate through his tax cuts and military foibles. Have a good day!
Are you suggesting that that makes things better, or are you simply having a TDS-induced seizure?
Anonymous pretends to be a conservative but posts exactly like a liberal with TDS. Exactly.
Can “high-paying tech and financial employers grow food?
Oh come on, the left relies on the oldest economy – government waste fraud and abuse. It is the mob, it is CCP-funded fraud, it is the mechanism for the destruction of the places they inhabit – every single one turns to crap, EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Tech and finance are ALSO susceptible to huge global price swings DF X!! You don’t think components/chips don’t flucuate greatly??? Or finance??
BOZO X!!
In tech, a “swing” often involves a shift in where capital flows, not just a loss of value. For example, as traditional software slowed in 2024, the “swing” moved billions into Generative AI. California captured approximately 80% of all AI-category investment during that period because its economy is based on transferable human capital, not fixed physical assets. But you didn’t know that did you?
And yet TX had nearly double the growth that CA did and almost half the country had higher growth than CA
Think about where these companies and people moved to. This is a short list
Space X
X
Tesla
Chevron
Oracle
Hewlett Packard
Musk
Larry Page
S. Brin
Peter Thiel
Mark Zuckerberg
Larry Ellison
Excellent analogy and presented with concise reason, logic, and clarity…which means no liberal on this tread will understand it. LOL
Cal Matters’ Dan Walters advised Newsom this January to focus on results, not spending:
“In fourth-grade reading skills, a vital area since reading comprehension is the door to mastering all other subjects, California ranked an embarrassing 37th among the states in 2024 tests. Just 29% of its students achieved proficient levels, down two points from 2022. Black and Latino fourth-graders appeared to struggle the most.”
Many red states rely heavily on “old economy” sectors like agriculture, mining, and oil extraction rather than “knowledge economy” sectors like tech and finance.”
Correct.
I REPEATEDLY refer you to Maslows heirarchy of needs.
With only limited exceptions we must meet lower order – more fundamental needs before we can make significant progress on higher order wants and needs.
AS ALWAYS the greatest hype and sometimes wealth occurs at the bleeding edge – at the luxury end of production.
Particularly high order luxuries that will be perceived as necescities even rights in the future.
This is part of what I mean when I keep telling you that the left confuses luxuries with necescities – conflating as rights, wants significantly farther up Maslows pyramid.
All those Red “old economy” functions you talk about are highly productive, producing true necescities at incredibly low cost – and that raises our standard of living dramatically.
During the revolutionary period 70% of the country was directly involved in producing food.
Today that i less than 1%. We are in ZERO danger of running out of food.
Not in the US – not truly anywhere in the world. Starvation today only occurs as a result of politics.
“Agriculture and mining are highly susceptible to global price swings. ”
Not really – prices are controlled by the laws of supply and demand.
You rant about “global price swings” – as if those come out of nowhere.
Absent some natural disaster that destroys a significant portion of production.
Or some man made disaster such as war that similarly reduces supply relative to demand – there are no “global price swings”. Further the long term inflation adjusted price of everything that government is not involved in ALWAYS declines.
Again actually read economist Julian Simons opus – the ultimate resource II
https://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/
Free markets convert scarcity to abundance.
“In 2025, for instance, Mississippi saw its GDP decline by 0.9% specifically due to agricultural challenges, even as the national economy grew by 3.8%. Thanks to Trump’s tariff fiasco.”
The Mississippi decline was in the 2nd qtr not the year
Over the year GDP rose approx 2%.
And here is euronews reporting that Mississippi one of the poorest states in the US rivals germany in GDP/capita.
https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/01/03/the-poorest-us-state-rivals-germany-gdp-per-capita-in-the-us-and-europe
Regardless, Mississippi is a poor state due to a century o democrat miss management – it is doing better now.
“Several red states are among the lowest spenders on education per student.”
While producing better results – NYC and DC top the nation in educational spending and are near the bottom in results.
Spending money does not magically solve problems.
“While some states like Mississippi have seen recent gains in reading scores, the long-term trend shows that states failing to attract high-paying tech and financial employers often lack the educated workforce those industries require.”
For more than a decade the US south has been rising. Contra your claim – that is where producers are relocating.
Boeing is moving to Missouri. Various European and Japanese car makers have built US production in the south.
The US south is becoming the new manufacturing belt in the US.
“High-skill workers often leave rural or lower-spending states for urban hubs that offer higher wages, further depleting the “human capital” necessary to drive a modern GDP.”
Very old news. Since Covid atleast we have seen a reverse migration.
High skill workers are often able to work anywhere and they are discoverin rural america – they ca work from their homes, have very low cost of living little traffic, and low cost of living.
While this is only ONE of the blue to red migration drivers – there are many,
The outmigration from blue cities to red states is well documented,
Blue states are losing congressional seats with each census.
“Cities are inherently more productive due to “agglomeration effects”—the concentration of infrastructure, specialized labor, and diverse businesses.”
Absolutely there are benefits to cities – there are also downsides.
Since the industrial revolution the upside of urban areas has outweighed the downside -without any regard for politics – in the past nearly every state and city that is now deep blue was once deep red.
But the migration to the cities slowed, stopped and is reversing – this is well documents.
“Because red states tend to have fewer large cities, they naturally have a lower per capita GDP compared to states with massive urban engines like New York or California.”
The highest GDP/capita in the US is DC – more than double the closest state.
What does DC produce ? nothing.
Parasites often do far batter than their hosts.
Regardless, you keep framing everything as Red States and Blue states – as if the current red states have always been red and the current blue states were always blue.
That is bunk. The North has been republican Red, for most of US history, while the south has been blue – democrat for most of that. ‘
The south notoriously for 2 centuries of democrat rule had schiff for investment. The south was not only agrarian – but extremely badly agrarian. They were not even productive farmers.
Since they have flipped from Blue to red – that is improving rapidly. The south is the goto portion of the US for manufacturing today.
Regardless, you also again run affoul of Maslow.
Food is a critical necescity -we have become so good at growin food that we have gone from 70% of human effort consumed in producing food, to barely 1%. Food is cheap and abundant. It is also far more of a necescity than anything else you have mentioned.
Without food – you will not have steel or iphones.
Above food are other raw materials – coal, steel, ….. you must have food before you can produce raw materials at scale.
But like food these are closer to fundimental needs and therefore we have gotten good at producing them in quantity cheaply.
Above raw materials are manufactured goods – these range from toasters and cars to iphones.
These are relatively luxuries – not necescities. While your children might think they can live longer without food than their smart phone – that is simply not true.
Regardless theFACT is – and ALWAYS WILL BE, that there is more money in producing luxury goods – particilarly those that are teetering on becoming mass market wants in a society with a high standard of living.
At the same time, it will ALWAYS be true that the necescities closer to the base of maslows heirarchy will always be necescities – not luxuries and always will cost less and be produced with far more efficiency than luxury goods.
“Red state policies often prioritize low taxes and deregulation to attract businesses, but this can create a cycle of underfunding for social safety nets”
Correct – lower taxes deregulate attract business – and you do not need social safety nets – none other than Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich proved that 25+ years ago.
Clinton ended Welfare as we know it (obama unfortunately brought it back) and the result was millions of people getting productive jobs and taking care of themselves and ataining a much higher standard of living.
Social Safetynets are:
First luxury goods,
2nd rife with moral hazzard. Like all giveaways they encourage people to be dependant rather than productive, and to large numbers of people that is appealing – though detrmental to both themselves and others.
“Professor Turley’s attacks on blue states seems to be about mocking or criticizing states that are generally more successful than red states.”
They have been in the past – when they were red states.
Today they are coasting on past success, and people are fleeing.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom [. . .] takes her children to conservative and Republican states so that they can see misogyny and racism firsthand.”
Or she could take the bullet train around California to see . . .
Oh, wait. Well, maybe her great-grandchildren will be able to do that.
If these states were truly ‘laboratories for disaster,’ we would see a collapse in innovation. Instead, California and New York continue to lead in venture capital and high-skill industries. High costs are often a reflection of high demand for the unique social capital and infrastructure these states provide. The focus on ‘disaster tourism’ ignores the fact that these markets remain the most vital engines of the national economy.
As usual Turley leaves out a lot of pertinent facts in order to portray negative outlooks for these states.
While blue states deal with high costs of living, Republican-led states frequently struggle with significantly lower household earnings and GDP per capita.
In 2024, the states with the lowest GDP per capita were almost exclusively Republican-led: Mississippi ($53,061), Arkansas ($60,276), and West Virginia ($60,783).
States like Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama were ranked as having the worst healthcare in 2024 based on insurance premiums, insured rates, and medical costs.
20 of the top 25 poorest states in the country are Republican-run. Louisiana had the highest poverty rate in the nation in 2024 at 18.7%—meaning nearly 1 in 5 residents struggles with basic expenses.
“. . . we would see a collapse in innovation.”
There is such a collapse. You just wish to not see it.
Tesla, HP, Oracle, Chevron (just to name a few) — all cutting-edge, *innovative* companies. They all fled California’s statist policies to *innovate* in states that are far more free market.
Sam,
Despite the departures mentioned, California has actually grown its roster of the nation’s largest companies.
Most Fortune 500s: In 2024, California officially overtook Texas as the state with the most Fortune 500 headquarters (57 to 52).
Continued Growth: As of June 2025, California extended this lead, hosting 58 Fortune 500 companies, outpacing Texas (54) and New York (53) for the second consecutive year.
Corporate Retention: While Chevron and Tesla moved headquarters, many departing companies maintain a massive “innovation footprint” in the state. Tesla, for instance, still operates its primary global engineering and AI headquarters in Palo Alto, and Chevron retains significant operations in the state.
Have the tax bases of CA and NYC grown or shrunk? Can Newsome and Mamdami fund their utopian ideas without massive federal help? Mamdami’s proposed budget is $10 billion more than the budget for all of FL. FL has 3 times more people. Yet homelessness in NY and CA with their bloated budgets is much worse than FL.
For the 2025–26 fiscal year, Florida’s state budget is approximately $117.4 billion. New York City’s enacted budget for the same period is $115.9 billion.
California: Far from shrinking, California’s tax revenue has seen massive surges. In early 2026, tax collections exceeded projections by $6 billion in just two months, fueled by a strong stock market and high-income tax payments.
NYC’s tax base has remained resilient. Final tax receipts for FY 2025 were 8.3% higher than the previous year, reaching a record $80.3 billion.
That’s not “shrinking”.
In 2024 and 2025, California actually grew its roster of Fortune 500 headquarters to 58, more than any other state, including Texas and Florida.
California and New York are “donor states,” historically paying more in federal taxes than they receive in return.
Comparing a city budget to a state budget is an ‘apples to oranges’ error that ignores the unique infrastructure NYC maintains. While Florida is more ‘efficient’ per person, it also lacks the massive public transit, public health, and education infrastructure that makes NYC and CA the most productive economic engines in the world.
People aren’t moving because the budgets are ‘bloated’; they’re moving because these states are so successful that they’ve become too expensive for the average worker to afford a home
Your ideas are wierd. You write:
“For the 2025–26 fiscal year, Florida’s state budget is approximately $117.4 billion. New York City’s enacted budget for the same period is $115.9 billion.”
Florida doesn’t waste money and is thinking of lowering propery taxes. Financially, it is one of the best states.
NYC is heading toward bankruptcy.
The numbers and populatin movements show that Florida knows how to use money properly and NYC doesn’t.
No middle class growth. You want to move people out of poverty, you need a place for them to go besides tattoo artistry and blue-hair government dependent employee/teacher
Existing “high volume” output due to PREVIOUS good governing conditions has nothing to do with the hemorrhaging of exit-bound industries and residents due to the current and long-standing trajectory of bad conditions from bad government. Regardless of your attempts to whitewash with a few positive examples of innovation, reality is revealed in incoming vs outgoing U-Hauls and business addresses and collapsing infrastructure. Dream on.
CEO of World’s Largest Bank Has Some Harsh Reality for Blue States: Population Exodus Is Your Own Fault
“Look at California versus Nevada… New York versus Florida and there’s a huge exodus taking place. It’s not good for the city.”
“And people just make a mistake, ‘oh, just tax these people.’ But that’s the outcome. And very often people think they’re being moral by doing that, but they’re not. What they’re doing is they’re hurting your own city.”
— JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2026/03/31/ceo-of-worlds-largest-bank-has-some-harsh-reality-for-blue-states-population-exodus-is-your-own-fault-n2200819
LOL. Congrats on being rich, just watch where you step as you walk down the street (exclusively during the day).
The left’s “Detroitization” of the US marches on, and useful idiots will tell you that there is nothing to see in their $hitho!es, all is well. Waste, fraud, abuse is really what attracts people to blue states, everyone else is leaving.
California and New York are among the top five states in income inequality, by gini coefficient. If your goal is to see the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, those are your models.
The state with the least inequality is the nitably conservative Utah.
“If these states were truly ‘laboratories for disaster,’ we would see a collapse in innovation.”
We are. It takes a long time to go from the top to the bottom.
in 1968 TX and WV voted blue – allong with 11 other states. 5 southern states went for Wallace.
The rest of the country including CA went red.
Every single state that is now a blue state was a red state for most of its history Nixon was a senator from CA, Reagan was a successful Go
The prosperity of blue states that you laud was built when they were red.
The most propserous states in the country have only been blue for a few decades – they have been leading producers far far far longer.
It takes a long time to undermine past success – but deomcrats are doing so.
Conversely nearly every current red state was a blue state a few decades ago.
For nearly 200 years under democrats – most were abject disasters.
It takes a long time to undo the disasters of 200 years of democrat rule.
Regardless the trend today is that blue states are in slow decline,
While red states are slowly improving.
The past economic success of republicans in what are now blue states will take a long time to be overcome,
Just as the disasterous impacts of 200 years of blue rule by democrats in the south will take a long time to overcome
But the trends have been clear for some time.
” Instead, California and New York continue to lead in venture capital and high-skill industries.”
Are the giant new semiconductor fabs going in blue states or red ?
Even where there is investment in blue states – is it going into the cities or rural areas ?
Where are the massive AI data centers going ?
Where is Space X ? Where is Tesla ?
“High costs are often a reflection of high demand for the unique social capital and infrastructure these states provide. ”
And even blue states are subject to the laws of supply and demand.
When the price goes too high – demand tanks.
“The focus on ‘disaster tourism’ ignores the fact that these markets remain the most vital engines of the national economy.”
Not really – CA and NYC and MA are like Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan 50 years ago.
Still dominant – but in clear decline.
“While blue states deal with high costs of living, Republican-led states frequently struggle with significantly lower household earnings” Lower earnings which go much farther.
“In 2024, the states with the lowest GDP per capita were almost exclusively Republican-led”
In 1968 the same states had the lowest GDP per capita and were exclusively democrat led.
” Mississippi ($53,061), Arkansas ($60,276), and West Virginia ($60,783).”
In 1996 Every one of those states went for Clinton.
and it was not until recently that they had Republican house members, senators governors and legislators.
Germany GDP/capital 59K
So Germany today is doing better than the very worst US state and worse than 49 other US states.
“States like Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama were ranked as having the worst healthcare in 2024 based on insurance premiums, insured rates, and medical costs.”
Vermont has the highest medical insurrance cost in the country. Missiissippi and Arkansas have among the lowest healthcare costs in the country – along with Idaho Montana, and notth dakota.
“20 of the top 25 poorest states in the country are Republican-run.”
What does that even mean ?
CA has the largest number of people on public assistance BY FAR – and way disproportionate to its population.
We can play these cherry picked statistics games forever.
The FACT is people are LEAVING blue states.
FL will have a stock market soon.
TX has more people working in banking and finance than NY
Billionaires are voting with their feet.
Ordinary people are voting with their feet.
Are 10% of americans leaving blue states in 1 year ? Nope.
But there is an outmigration – from the rich and the poor,
and it is away from Blue states and cities.
The laws of supply and demand in action.
There is no doubt that cities have much going for them.
And California has a massive amount going for it.
All other things being equal people will and have flocked to cities and to California.
But that is no longer happening.
All things are no longer equal.
This is particularly bad with respect to California.
Much of California is practically the garden of eden and you have still made it so people are leaving.
” Louisiana had the highest poverty rate in the nation in 2024″
And GDP./capita on par with Germany
“meaning nearly 1 in 5 residents struggles with basic expenses.”
Actually it does not mean that.
It just means 20% of Louisiana’s are in thee bottom qunitile – duh.
It tells you nothin about cost of living, standard of living and affordability
We keep hearing that Democrat voters are more intelligent than Republican voters, but they just keep voting for these losers. Oh, and there is a difference between being educated and being intelligent.
Amen. My blue collar dad, who appreciated education more than most, used to complain that the problems at work weren’t from the smart people with or without degrees, but from the educated fools.
“Economist Milton Friedman said, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” The problem is that these policies are motivated by political rather than economic realities.”
Whenever a liberal policy does not work, it doesn’t mean the policy is defective, it only means we aren’t trying hard enough so double down!
And besides whether it actually works or not is irrelevant, it is intentions that matter.
https://www.amren.com/features/2026/04/a-rising-generation-challenges-a-declining-regime/
antonio
And by “double down” what you mean is double the money.
Has there ever in the history of the universe been a government bureaucratic agency come before Congress and say they need LESS money because they’ve been so effective?
So yes, according to Friedman, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” True in that it is ONE of the great mistakes, but the greater mistake is putting an incompetent fool in charge in the first place. Promotions are 90% political. The man (usually) who gets his position by politics will then stack the deck with yes men who dare not challenge the narrative (and politics) he establishes; and will be no more qualified than the fool in charge. The higher ups who gave the job to a failure likewise won’t admit they made a mistake. They will keep holding to hopium until they have no choice but to remove the loser…way after massive damage is done.
Forty years in multiple corporations working as support to executives in several large companies, and I saw only ONE truly merit-based executive level promotion in my whole career. And that was because the company was in Chapter 11 and the bank (desperate not to lose money) selected the new president from among lower level managers. The man remarkably turned everything around and saved the company.
Milton Friedman’s lesson applies beyond economics. As an example, compare “intentions” to “results” in how the DNC-NEA partnership educates our children.
Good post!
I volunteered (US Air Force in 1964 vs being drafted). Looking back, it was the best thing that happened to me. Why? It provided the opportunity to use my service time and get my college degree (in 3.5 yrs) paid for under the GI bill, something which is viewed as a “horror” by liberals who view post high school education as a right. And I worked part time loading/unloading freight while in college.
Liberals are good at using the money of others to continue their political and social policies.
It’s an international phenomenon. Foreigners have started planning their visits to Vietnam to observe the flooding during monsoon season, especially in the area of Hội An Ancient Town UNESCO world heritage site. A certain amount of moderate flooding occurs every year, but the tourists arrive expressing hope on social media that the floods will be extensive, providing them a “truly memorable” experience on one of the guided river excursions. They love nothing better than to create a selfie with a devastated home in the background.
Democrats pretend that money grows on trees. They promise things they cannot deliver, and shift blame when they don’t materialize. Each and every new cost is borne by consumers. Every. Single. One.
Democrats JUST WANT YOUR Money…they are greedy. End of Story!
One problem with these leftist politicians is that they all frequent the same after hours wine and cheese parties, maybe not to drink but to pump themselves up with self-righteousness. This way, they don’t have to read the economic reports.
Of concern in Florida, amidst the building boom, seeing Miami and Boca Raton electing Democrat leadership. is that those fleeing states and the issues they created are bringing their garbage with them instead of leaving it behind.
Trapper, it appears that so far people moving to FL haven’t committed the same sin as the people moving from MA to NH as of yet. MASS(holes) turned red NH into blue NH, I know people say it is purple but they are electing ,ore and more Dems, but the voter registration in FL has become redder and redder during DeSantis’ time in office. Here’s hoping it continues.