Academic

TIM CAVANAUGH: California: The American Greece. ?What do Europe?s most bankrupt nation-state and A?

By Glenn Reynolds

TIM CAVANAUGH: California: The American Greece. “What do Europe’s most bankrupt nation-state and America’s most bankrupt united state have in common, aside from being bankrupt? In what is undoubtedly a coincidence noticed only by free-market fundamentalists, it turns out that Greece, that sun-drenched paradise on the Aegean, and California, that sun-warmed El Dorado on the Pacific, are the worst places to do business in their respective economic zones. . . . The insidious thing about an unfriendly business climate is that it takes a long time for the effects to show up in the government’s inability to pay its bills. So long, in fact, that when the sovereign bankruptcy comes, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that tax rates are too low. Both California and Greece are going through a variety of this type of denial right now. But with the governor of California and the prime minister of Greece both promising to turn over a new leaf, this is a good time to remember that you can’t take people’s money if you prevent them from making money in the first place.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on May 10, 2010 (boomark / email).