Compared with the other states I've lived in, California seems to have the least corrupt and most reasonable regulations. Sure I can find plenty of ridiculous stuff (the boneheaded 8-hr/day vs 40 hours/week rule) but by and large it's a great place to do business.
Those ALEC, Heritage foundation etc clowns are welcome to stay in DC and screw up other states. Their arguments are always data-free.
Laws still require enforcement. And from what I've seen California is a bit over-hyped in many ways, including how liberal/progressive it is, how hard it is to start and run a business, and how well it protects employees.
This is why you shouldn’t put your business in California. There’s a legion of highly-paid bureaucrats who have nothing, I mean nothing, better to do than screw with you.
When people talk about California regulations driving away business it's always an immediate sign to me that they either watch too much Fox News or they're simply talking the book.
First off, $800 is probably too low. It's in California's interest to drive away low margin businesses. If your business really struggles to pay $800 then you should move to Texas or Wyoming. $800 is unlikely to get you even a parking space.
Second, all actual data, actual evidence, not handwavy whining about regulations, indicate California is still far and away the most dynamic economy in the US with the best business growth [1]. Now you might argue California's growth would be even more extraordinary with less regulations (though again, if people ever bother to open a book and learn from the past they'd see most deregulation efforts eg electricity have done more harm than good) but this is a far cry from what may be the most dynamic economy in the world hosting a "small business assassination program."
CA is one of their few profit centers. It's also 10% of the population of the USA. No business would choose to exclude CA, and CA knows this. That is why they can get away with these heavy handed regulations.
I grew up in California. It's a beautiful place. But I fail to understand the point of living or doing business there in 2017. High state taxes, high crime rates (that will only get higher as more people are driven to homelessness), impossible housing market, etc. I now live in Nevada. I can easily drive or fly to California for vacation if I want, housing is relatively reasonable, and there are no state taxes.
If you are doing consulting that can be done remotely, live in Nevada and fly to California when you need. Flights are cheap and plentiful. If you're running or starting a web-based business, then you can run that from pretty much anywhere, and you'd be insane to do it in California with such a punitive tax system. There's just no point to living in California these days.
This isn't just optimistic thinking. A lot of the current American consumer laws, emissions standards etc. are de facto set by California rather than the Federal government.
So, no data at all? I think you've really shown your whole ass to everyone by citing an ALEC position paper. ALEC has rated California as having either the #1 or #2 "worst business climate" in America every year it has published it's rankings, which are merely propaganda for a certain political viewpoint. ALEC's "Rich States, Poor States" paper has been reporting from Oppositeland for decades.
CA has relatively high taxes and labor protections vs other US states and it seems to do ok. I'd say that Euro nations have most of your list, but a high level of bureaucracy regarding business licensing and a conservative business climate (hesitancy to do commerce with new businesses).
America loves the new and shiny. In particular, the culture in CA is more than open to new ideas, often actively seeking newness. And I think that is at the root of the difference.
I have been hearing how California has been business unfriendly for the last 20 years, only for our economy and job growth to crush all other states. I mean just look at VC investment and IPO creation and the last decade and decide which state creates more business. By all objective stats, California seems to be the most business friendly state
There's also the fact that California is regularly at the bottom of rankings of "business friendly" states. I'd rather locate my business in a state that wants me there.
It would be nice if California became the most business friendly state in the nation. One of the reasons we chose Austin over California for our startup is the high California taxes and loads of red tape to operate.
Texas seemed a lot more business friendly to us, the only downside we can see is the humid climate.
Those ALEC, Heritage foundation etc clowns are welcome to stay in DC and screw up other states. Their arguments are always data-free.
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