It’s not hand waving, but I’m not patient enough to repeatedly explain the math. By your definition, 90% of Americans are poor then. Meanwhile, a median US income is in the top 1% of the world.
“In California, there is this idea of ‘Oh, we care about the poor,’” Duggan said. “But on this metric we are literally the worst.”
“Right now market forces are telling California, ‘Get your s-- together,’ ” said report co-author Mark Duggan, director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. “This exodus thing — I think it’s a risk.”
California is failing in converting its endowment into productivity. Just like many commodity rich countries did not succeed because they did not develop human capital. California is slipping on that count even though last 5 decades were driven by knowledge based industry in California. If it continues this way, the only thing to remain will be nice beachfront properties for rich people to come and buy from all over the world.
Heard about the recent fires down south? The degree of mismanagement is such that even those beachfront properties might not be too appealing down the road.
BTW - we also had 60-70mph gusts here in AZ. Power never went out; no fires.