United States | California teeming

The Golden State is awash in cash

How its leaders plan to use the money says a lot about its politics

Trolls to the left of me, ogres to the right

RECENTLY CALIFORNIA has been running a lottery to encourage vaccinations against covid-19. Those who have received their jabs can enter to win prizes, including holidays, gift cards and ten grand-prize cheques of $1.5m each. California has also recently won a windfall of its own. Instead of an expected $54bn budget deficit because of the covid-19-induced recession, a roaring stockmarket combined with a federal stimulus has produced a surplus of more than $100bn.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Gavin Newsom’s wild ride”

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