California Connected - And Its Economy is Growing Fast

The larger the network you are part of, the more opportunities you have — to buy and sell, work and hire, entertain and be entertained, learn and teach, make friends and fall in love.

Few people move to the big city for the high-rises or the traffic. They move because other people are there. Each new arrival attracts more arrivals, and the possibilities expand with the population — not linearly, but exponentially.

This is true at every scale. The more connections between your brain cells, the better your brain works. The more connections between your household, your community, your state, and the wider world, the better your culture and economy work.

California's economy is larger than all but a handful of national economies. The reason is connection.

The United States is 13% immigrants. California is 26%. Silicon Valley is 39%.

Hollywood creates content the entire world watches. Silicon Valley creates the products and services that connect the world. It is the capital of the world wide web.

Californians are not harder working or smarter than other people. They are more connected. That is why theirs is the largest economy in the United States, and why it is growing faster than comparable advanced nations.