To hear some Silicon Valley insiders tell it, California is on the verge of economic suicide. This November, Californians will likely vote on a ballot initiative that would levy a one-off tax on the wealth of about 200 of the state's richest residents. Garry Tan, the CEO of the start-up incubator Y Combinator, posted on X that the measure would 'kill and eat the golden goose of technology startups in California.' Investors and tech executives are threatening to leave the state. Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been angling for a centrist presidential pivot, has vowed to 'do what I have to do' to stop the initiative. Many progressives, however, see the billionaire tax as a long-overdue effort to finally force the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share. Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, calls it a 'model that should be emulated throughout the country.' In their telling, hyperbolic claims about the death of innovation and entrepreneurship in California are a smoke screen for the fact...
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