If there’s one thing the Governor of California loves to talk about, it's the size of his state’s economy – if it were an independent country, it would be the fifth largest in the world, Gavin Newsom loves to say. Well, it’s not an independent country; it’s a state – a state in complete disarray that is teetering on the edge of collapse. It was already hard to build anything there, and the aftermath of the wildfires in 2024 has shown it’s even harder to rebuild anything there. To say the business environment is less than friendly is an understatement, as businesses flee the Golden State as the atmosphere there turns to tin.

Tesla famously fled the state in 2021; SpaceX followed in 2024. While both of those companies are run by Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire is not alone in the economic exodus. In addition to Musk’s companies, Hewlett Packard, Chevron and Charles Schwab all moved their headquarters from various parts of California to Texas in the past few years, while even the famous In-N-Out Burger left the coast for Tennessee. This doesn’t happen in healthy economies.

Now comes word that Paramount, the legendary movie studio, is considering packing up and moving east. While you can see how the environmental, regulatory and tax atmosphere in the state could lead those other businesses to leave, California is the home of Hollywood – movie studios and tax credits for them are almost as old as the state is. Why would Paramount even consider leaving?

Well, the state government is opposed to the company’s proposed........

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