Dear All;
A most interesting study of all the states
and how they rank on several factors from
economic to personal freedom. California
does not do well and as noted below by
the authors ranks at the bottom in most
categories.
Ah yes the Golden State ain't so Golden
afterall.. Gosh why am I not surprised by that.
South Dakota ranks highest in economic
freedom with New Hamsphire close by
and Alaska ranks highest in personal
freedom with Maine close by.
New York is lowest in economic freedom
and Maryland is lowest in personal freedom.
The overall freedom scale ranks New Hampshire
as Number 1 and New York state as 50th.
Enjoy the browsing of your favorite states
for more on how they rank.
The url is for the pdf of 64 pages - allow a little
download time.
http://mercatus.org/uploadedFiles/Mercatus/Publications/Freedom%20in%20the%2050%20States.pdf
http://snipurl.com/du97e [mercatus_org]
California ( not the greatest rankings)
Overall - 47
Regulatory - 46
Fiscal - 44
Personal - 37Economic -
New York (for comparison)
Overall - 50
Regulatory - 44
Fiscal - 50
Personal - 48Economic - 5048
From the study the authors say this about California.
Contrary to popular perception, California nottwo thirds
Ron Getty - SF Libertarian
only taxes and regulates its economy more than
most other states, it also aggressively interferes in
the personal lives of its citizens. California ranks #48
on economic freedom and #37 on personal freedom.
California simply needs to cut government spending.
The budgetary categories most out of line with the
rest of the country are public safety, natural resources
and environment, and administration. The state actually
does not spend more than average on education
and social services.
For a large state, it is also fairly centralized, with
local governments receiving about half of their
revenue in state grants, and almost
of all state and local tax revenues controlled
by Sacramento.
Labor laws are of course extremely strict; for
instance, California is one of only five states
to mandate short-term disability insurance.
Health insurance mandates add about 60 percent to
the cost of premiums in the state. Eminent domain
reform has been cosmetic, and the state’s liability
system almost reaches the abysmal quality of the
Deep South.
On personal freedoms, California does well of
course on same-sex partnerships and marijuana,
but it also has the most restrictive gun laws
in the country, a highly restrictive policy regime for
motorists, and smoking bans.
Arrests for victimless crimes are surprisingly high,
with 21.6 percent of all arrests being for victimless
crimes, the fifth highest in the country.
Effective homeschooling regulations are about
average, but the state has no statute explicitly
permitting homeschooling. Fortunately, the state
has a reasonable asset forfeiture regime (burden of
proof on government, owner knowledge of criminal
activity required).
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Morte ai Tiranni
Dum Spiro, Pugno