Amusing parable told by Dallas Fed President Richard W Fisher at the Cato Institute:
“The governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the governor’s dog, then bites the governor. The governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie Bambi and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.
“He calls animal control. Animal control captures the coyote and bills the state $200 for testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the state $200 for testing it for diseases. The governor goes to the hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and getting his bite wound bandaged.
“The running trail gets shut down for six months while the California Fish and Game Department conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals. The governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a ‘coyote awareness program’ for residents of the area. The Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.
“The governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The state spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training, re: the nature of coyotes. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protests the coyote’s relocation and files a $5 million suit against the state.
“The governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and tries to attack him and his dog. The governor shoots the coyote with his state-issued pistol and keeps jogging.
“The governor spent 50 cents on a .380-caliber, hollow-point cartridge. Buzzards ate the dead coyote.
“And that, my friends, is why California is broke and Texas is not.”
Australians will identify with his description of a “nanny-state”.
Colin
I know this is humor and it is meant as that , however it is an excellent example of economic dynamics at work.
As you know the biggest problem today the world over is falling GDP growth. So if this was a real situation California would have a increase in its GDP and thus be perceived as doing well in these difficult times. Conversely the same situation in Texas would clearly not have it’s GDP enhanced much with the expenditure of a 50c bullet.
PS Is this pithy enough?
Pithy and to the point 🙂
Don’t you just love these simple minded, idiotic homilies? Yeah, Texas is doing a great job in health care, public services and education. Here’s one: how do you find Texas from California? Go East until you smell crap, then south until you step in it.