California, Texas, Tesla And All That Jazz -- January 11, 2023

The big story today: being reported everywhere -- 1% of California residents pay 50% off California taxes. Once you throw in yacht docking fees, and sales taxes and luxury vehicles, that 1% pays a lot more than 50%.

• California: had a $100 billion just a few months ago; now a $25 billion deficit:
• governor admits the deficit is due to fact that only 1% pay state taxes ...
• will cut "climate-change" funding. Say what? That's an existential issue;
• also on the cutting board: child-care. Say what? How much is the state spending on child care; and from where are all those children coming
• supports my contention Trump mishandled the border crisis;
  
• Texas? Record-breaking $33 billion surplus;
• California: state income tax
• Texas: no state income tax
• link to WSJ;
• this is probably as good an analysis as any -- and it was written last August

After 170 years of population growth — occasionally explosive growth — California is now experiencing population loss for the first time.

As foreign immigration and birth rates declined, they no longer offset net losses in state-to-state migration. Since 2010, 7.5 million people have left California while 5.9 million people have come from other states.

That gives rise to a question: Who is leaving California and why?

“Most people who move across state lines do so for housing, job, or family reasons,” Hans Johnson, a demographer for the Public Policy Institute of California, wrote earlier this year. Johnson also notes that those who leave California tend to be poorer and less educated than those who migrate to the state, which is not surprising given that housing and jobs dominate motivations.

There is, however, a less obvious subset of those who leave California — high-income families seeking relief from the state’s notoriously high taxes.

Again, that was written six months ago.

By the way: it speaks volumes that no one mentioned the elephant in the room: Elon Musk and Tesla departing California for Texas.

Texas and here:

Speaking of Elon Musk, Tesla, and Texas: the latter is considering an additional $770 million investment in Austin, Texas. Link here.  I wonder how the Berlin gigafactory is doing? That's rhetorical: don't reply; I really don't care.

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Covid: The "Haves" and "Have-Nots"

Also being reported by The LA Times: