As Goes California

It's hard to see the U.S. recovering any economic dynamism as long as California remains mired in deep recession. Texas can strut their feathers all they want but almost all their Fortune 500 companies are based on resource extraction. Also, the rural poverty in Texas is not far removed from the 1880's, or it feels like it. Countries largely dependent on resource extraction have historically been on the wrong end of the stick when it comes to an increasing and broad-based standard of living. If it's a matter of selling raw materials or finished products, wealth usually flows to the latter.