昨天，在爱荷华州的一个竞选点，罗姆尼说了一个小笑话，看起来巧妙地概括了保守派对于国家未来的担心。“某种程度上，企业家和商业人士认为，美国像希腊、西班牙、或意大利。”他说，“比如加利福尼亚，也许，只是一句玩笑话而已。”
每个好的笑话，或许都存在一些事实的精髓。我们知道，保守派们想象中的美国，是变成一个巨大的“金州”版本，有巨大的政府支出，那简直是狂热的噩梦。持续预算的争论，激进的监管，强大的工会。接下来：地中海！（暗示威胁佛拉明戈）。
但是，加利福尼亚真的是我们自己非常独特的经济区域，正如欧洲中的坚果般的那片吗？简言之，如果可以的话，现在，希腊、西班牙、意大利，非常想像加利福尼亚一样好。
我不是金融专家，所以，我打电话给准普尔分析师加里布埃尔·皮塔克，寻求指导。去年，皮塔克发布了一份报告，推迟了加州和希腊的比较。他说，比较只是“表面上的”。
假如加州是一个国家，它的1.958万亿美元，将成为世界第十大国家。至少，可用购买力来衡量。像是类似的大小（或者，希腊为例，相对较小），欧洲的同行，有一个缺点，就是不印钞。某种程度上，美国的一些州，比如加利福尼亚等，有重要的共同点。当2008年灾难冲击时，既没有通过发行货币使货币贬值，也没有试图通过出口来复苏经济。欧洲债务人不得不保留赤字，努力维持。现在，付出了为痛苦的紧缩措施的代价。然而，加利福尼亚受益于联邦刺激支出。到去年，已经实现了2%的增长，皮塔克说，远超过了意大利、西班牙和希腊的痛苦。
加州10，7%的失业率，实际上等同于意大利，但这远远好于西班牙和希腊。还有，加州持续改善中。在截止6月的12个月期间，加州增加了279，000个工作岗位，工资总额达到48，000，超过了最近的竞争者德克萨斯。五月，实现了，超过一半的新工作，都归功于这个州。
但是，加州有名的预算混乱是怎么回事呢？的确，与美国其他州相比，加州在稳健的财政政策方面不是一个模范。卡利是糊涂的州议员，在时期和强化支出方面，不能做到平衡预算，尽管，投票倡议中，限制了对于税收的能力。
但是，这是相对于美国其他州而言的，最终，加利福尼亚，宪法要求做到预算平衡。它发行债券，以支付基础设施建设，也留下了大约900亿美元的未偿债务，相当于GDP的5%都不到。我是说，这个和巨大的欧洲债务危机相比，微不足道。欧债危机是令人恐惧的，影响到投资者的信心。
当然，仅仅因为州的账面上的预算平衡，并不意味着现实中一定如此。有时税收收入比预期少一些，有时完成多一些。加州在过去的预算赤字相对小，这包括了下一年的税金部分。皮塔克计算，2011年，加州的普通基金实际上完成了一个小的盈余。然而，欧洲，没有那么幸运。
尽管，在共和党忠诚的轻视中，它占据了一席之位。以世界水平，加州是一个相当有经济动力的城市。好莱坞的故乡，还有硅谷。国家在经济方面发挥的作用，要大于其他各州，加州仍然是相比较欧洲庞大的政府部门更轻松。政府支出大约占经济的6%，而联邦资金大约占18%。在意大利和希腊，占经济的一半。西班牙，大约43%。
所以，将加州与希腊、意大利和西班牙相比，有些指责。但为什么我想着做这件事呢？还是，每个笑话，或许有现实的精髓。在保守主义确信的规定下，似乎有一种感觉，来自世界债券市场的所得，仅仅是额外的医疗补助。加利福尼亚有其经济不足，但并没有那么糟糕。这个可以问问欧洲。
At a campaign stop yesterday in Iowa, Mitt Romney tossed out a laugh line that seemed to neatly sum up the core of conservative fears about our future as a country. "Entrepreneurs and business people around the world and here at home think that at some point America is going to become like Greece or like Spain or Italy," he said, before adding, "or like California -- just kidding about that one, in some ways."
Every good joke is supposed to have a little kernel of truth to it. And we all know that, in their most feverish nightmares, conservatives imagine the U.S. transforming into a giant version of the Golden State, with its big spending government, constant budget battles, aggressive regulators, and powerful unions. And the next step from there: the Mediterranean! (Cue the threatening Flamenco).
But is California really our very own economically nutty slice of Europe? Does it deserve to be lumped in with the black seep of the global economy? In short, no, not even close. If anything, Greece, Spain, and Italy would love to be in as good shape as California right now.
I'm not an expert in state finances, so I called up Standard & Poor's analyst Gabriel Petek for a tutorial. Last year, Petek published a report waiving off comparisons between California and Greece. Today, he says, the comparison is just as "superficial."
If California were a country, it's $1.958 trillion economy would be the world's tenth largest, at least when measured by purchasing power parity. And like its similarly sized (or, in the case of Greece, comparatively diminutive) counterparts in Europe, it has the disadvantage of not printing its own money. In that sense, U.S. states like California and members of the European Union had something important in common: When catastrophe hit in 2008, neither could devalue their currency and try to revive their economies via exports. Europe's debtors had to run deficits to try and stay afloat, and are now paying for it with painful austerity measures. California, meanwhile, reaped the benefits of federal stimulus spending. And by last year, it managed nearly 2 percent growth, according Setek, far outdistancing Italy, Spain, or painfully contracting Greece.
California's 10.7 percent unemployment is in fact about on-par with Italy's. But it's far superior to the desolate labor markets in Spain and Greece. Moreover, it's been improving. During the 12 months ending in June, California added 279,000 workers to its payrolls -- 48,000 more than its closest competitor, Texas. In May, it was responsible for more than half of all new jobs in the country.
But what about California's famed budget messes? Indeed, compared to other U.S. states, it isn't exactly a paragon of fiscal prudence. Cali's rather addled state legislators have been notoriously incapable of balancing a budget on time or reigning in spending, even as ballot initiatives have capped their ability to tax.
But that's compared to other U.S. states. Like other parts of the union, California is, in the end, constitutionally required to balance its budget. It does issue bonds to pay for infrastructure projects, which has left it with about $90 billion of outstanding debts, equivalent to a little less than 5 percent of its GDP. Suffice to say, that's a pittance compared to the giant European debt loads that are striking fear into the hearts of bond investors.
Of course, just because states balance their budgets on paper doesn't mean it will work out that way in the real world. Sometimes tax revenues come in a bit lower than expected. Sometimes they finish out a bit higher. California has run some relatively small budget deficits in the past, which it's had to cover with the next year's tax dollars. In 2011, though, Petek calculates that California's general fund actually finished with a slight surplus. Again, Europe: Not so lucky.
Even though it occupies a special place of disdain for the GOP faithful, California is a pretty dynamic economy by global standards. It's the home of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. And while the state might play a larger economic role than in other corners of the country, it's still relatively light compared to Europe's more bloated government sectors. State spending is last year was roughly 6 percent of its economy, while federal dollars usually make up around 18 percent. In Italy and Greece, Government is about half the economy. In Spain, it's around 43 percent.
So lumping California in with Greece, Italy, and Spain is, in the end, pretty silly. But why am I dwelling on it then? Again, every good joke is supposed to have a kernel of truth. And among a certain set of conservatives, there seems to be a feeling that states are just one extra medicaid payment away from getting savaged by the world's bond markets. California has its economic problems. But they're not that bad. Just ask Europe.
