Condemned to repeat history again

Economics lesson #1 – If you gouge “the rich,” they’ll leave:

It takes hard work to drive anyone away from California's sunshine and scenic vistas, but politicians in Sacramento have been up to the task.

The latest Census Bureau data indicate that, in 2005, 239,416 more native-born Americans left the state than moved in. California is also on pace to lose domestic population (not counting immigrants) this year. The outmigration is such that the cost to rent a U-Haul trailer to move from Los Angeles to Boise, Idaho, is $2,090--or some eight times more than the cost of moving in the opposite direction.

What's gone wrong? A big part of the story is a tax and regulatory culture that treats the most productive businesses and workers as if they were ATMs. The cost to businesses of complying with California's rules, regulations and paperwork is more than twice as high as in other Western states.

Economics lesson #2 – If you soak businesses to pay for expanding government spending, they’ll pack up too:

What's now dawning on Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott is that his company is a middleman in this exchange. So on Sunday he spoke directly to the governors and said there was "too much politics" in state bills taking aim at his company. Of course, that's exactly why more states will target Wal-Mart and other employers in order to raise revenue to expand Medicaid, unless someone in Washington puts a stop to it.

Economics lesson #3 – Private enterprise will always fill a public need:

The Cambie Surgery Center, Canada's most prominent private hospital, may be considered a rogue enterprise.

Accepting money from patients for operations they would otherwise receive free of charge in a public hospital is technically prohibited in this country, even in cases where patients would wait months or even years before receiving treatment.

But no one is about to arrest Dr. Brian Day, who is president and medical director of the center, or any of the 120 doctors who work there. Public hospitals are sending him growing numbers of patients they are too busy to treat, and his center is advertising that patients do not have to wait to replace their aching knees.

The country's publicly financed health insurance system — frequently described as the third rail of its political system and a core value of its national identity — is gradually breaking down. Private clinics are opening around the country by an estimated one a week, and private insurance companies are about to find a gold mine.

Coming soon: oil companies are blamed for high gas prices.