Thread by @bopinion

At the start of the pandemic, headlines signaled the end of days for the Golden State: “California doom: Staggering $54 billion deficit looms,” the AP declared.

Yet that's not what the data shows. California’s economy is the opposite of doom trib.al/IFBEiqA

No one anticipated the latest round of data showing that California has no peers among developed economies for…

💰Expanding GDP
💼Creating jobs
💸Raising household income
👨‍🏭Manufacturing growth
💡Innovation
☀️Clean energy
trib.al/IFBEiqA

By adding 1.3 million people to its non-farm payrolls since April 2020 -- equal to the workforce of Nevada -- California easily surpassed Texas & New York.

Household income increased $164 billion, almost as much as Texas, Florida & Pennsylvania combined trib.al/IFBEiqA

If anything, Covid-19 accelerated California's record productivity.

Quarterly revenue per employee of the publicly-traded companies based in the state climbed to an all-time high of $1.5 million in May trib.al/IFBEiqA

While pundits insist that California policies are bad for business, reality belies them -- investors have the greatest confidence in the state.

The weight of California companies in the S&P 500 Index increased by 3% since 2020, the most among all states trib.al/IFBEiqA

The most trusted measure of economic strength says California is the world-beater among democracies.

The state’s GDP increased 21% during the past five years, dwarfing No. 2 New York (14%) and No. 3 Texas (12%) trib.al/IFBEiqA

GDP gains added $530 billion to the Golden State, 30% more than the increase for New York and Texas combined -- equivalent to Sweden's entire economy.

Among the five largest economies, California outperforms the U.S., Japan and Germany trib.al/IFBEiqA

For all its bluster as being “best for business,'' Texas can't match California's innovation.

California is a premiere destination for tech and health-care development. The percentage of Texas facilities for R&D is less than half California's at 8.2% trib.al/IFBEiqA

Corporate California also is the undisputed leader in renewable energy, with 26 companies worth $897 billion having reported 10% or more of their revenues derived from clean tech.

No state comes close to matching the 21% of electricity derived from solar trib.al/IFBEiqA

Shares of clean tech firms appreciated 282% during the past 12 months and 1,003%, 1,140% and 9,330% over two, five and 10 years, respectively, with no comparable rivals anywhere in the world trib.al/IFBEiqA

California companies invested 16% of their revenues in R&D, or their future, when the rest of the U.S. put aside just 1%.

Investing in the future is California's way, the opposite of doom trib.al/IFBEiqA