「经济学人」Going back to Cali

The pandemic doldrums are over

It was the end of an era. In 2020 California’s population shrank for the first time since it joined the union in 1850. People had flocked to the state for its farmland, beaches and it industries. When falling birth rates, lower immigration, outmigration to cheaper states and the covid-19 pandemic reversed that trend, California had a bit of an identity crisis. But figures released on April 30th by California’s Department of Finance should lessen the hand-wringing. In 2023 California’s population grew by nearly 0.2%, or about 67,000 residents (see chart). That may not seem much: it is a few thousand more than the number it takes to fill Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

But the withering of America’s most-populous state has become a hot topic in the culture wars. Conservative politicians such as Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, used the state’s shrinkage to argue that Americans were voting with their feet and rejecting California’s progressive politics. California’s paltry growth cannot compare with that of Florida or Texas. Still, it is harder to argue that California is flailing when people still want to move there.

Why the rebound? First, legal immigration to America has overtaken pre-pandemic levels, and nearly a quarter of America’s foreign-born population now lives in California. Second, the number of annual deaths has returned to normal. Finally, net migration out of the state in 2023 was one-quarter of the rate it was in 2021. Small increases in population in Los Angeles and San Francisco suggest that remote working has lost some of its appeal. The Golden State, it seems, is still golden.(Apr 30th 2024)

我没有译文，仅供拓展阅读

LearnAndRecord

2015年2月8日

2024年5月6日

第3376天

每天持续行动学外语