You hear it all the time -typically from corporately-backed Republican candidates running for office: "California's regulations are a job killer. Companies are leaving California to do business elsewhere." This is the argument that Texas oil companies are using to promote Prop 23, which would basically kill California's sole prospering business sector right now: clean tech. But here's another important question: are there more of them than there are new companies coming in or starting up locally? 

Turns out, there actually have been studies on this issue like this recent one from the Public Policy Institute of California. In fact, they historically have demonstrated that the vast vast majority of businesses aren't leaving California after all. Sure there are some companies that leave, and some people decide not to start a business in California, but the percentage is negligible, so much so that California suffers less from this problem than other states: Read More >