One of the headlines in today’s LA Times was that the bad economy has led to an emigration trend that might be a permanent thing.  There seems to be no real good job-creation driver/industry for such a large population base.  Immigrants to California have slowed down quite a bit, and emigration has picked up quite a bit.  Some of the stories sound so similar to what you hear here.  Musician couldn’t find work so he moved to Idaho so he could work in his field.  He later goes on to say, “My personal goal is to move back there eventually. It’s just a matter of making the finances work.”  Another sentiment you hear in Armenia.

In both places, I blame of course governance.  In Armenia, government corruption is draining the economy badly, and robbing people of opportunity and jobs.  In Los Angeles, though there is blatant government robbery (see Vernon and Bell scandals), that is not the main problem.  The main problem is a bloated bureaucracy and red tape that I think competes quite well with the Soviet system at its best (ie. worst).  The disaster of an educational system and transportation network compound the problem.

There is no reason why beautiful Armenia, with such an educated and well connected people shouldn’t be thriving like Singapore or Switzerland.  There is likewise no reason why diverse LA, with such a great climate and location shouldn’t continue to grow and boom.  Except for bad governance…