The opinion piece "From The California Dream To A Cautionary Tale" by Edward Luce in today's Financial Times provides a frank and sobering analysis of the state of the (formerly?) great State of California. The piece discusses how California is lagging other states in economic growth, suffers from high unemployment and is eroding the quality of the state's world-recognized University of California system. According to the piece, the problem is two-fold: too much democracy (the Ballot Initiative process has tied the system in knots); and too little democracy (a voter initiative that became law requires a two-thirds majority in the legislature to pass new taxes). If you're a Californian, this is an important read. Unfortunately it's behind a subscription firewall, but a free registration will enable viewing the article. Here's the link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7557edba-b08d-11e1-8b36-00144feabdc0.html
