Ratchet in California

Twenty years ago, Robert Higgs spelled out a government size-and-scope ratchet effect.

Today's LA Times and WSJ include discussions (here and here) of the latest realizations of the effect in California government. Both pieces are worth looking at. Markets may be positive sum, but policial economy is not. And when the chickens do come home to roost, new programs are proposed to solve old program-created problems.