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Business Climate: Last year’s tax hike was a short-term fix, at best, for the Golden State’s woes. For lasting prosperity, job creators need to trust the politicians. Right now, they don’t.

More than two-thirds of California business leaders see the state as an extraordinarily difficult state in which to operate, a new survey by the California Business Roundtable has found.

There has always been a certain level of competitiveness among the States. Of course, the football rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is legendary. But, on a more serious note, economic competitiveness goes all the way back to colonial days.

California is widely viewed as one of the most anti-business states in the nation, bristling with high taxes and onerous regulations that drive companies away. The state also is seen as a leading generator of high-paying jobs in growing industries, attracting more than half of the nation’s venture capital investment.

Comparing California to other states has become a common exercise among politicians, academicians and in the media.

Manufacturing is staging a big comeback in the United States, according to a new U.S. Commerce Department report, but a new state employment report indicates that manufacturing is continuing its years-long slide in California.

Silicon Valley leaped back to the top of a list of “best-performing cities” put out by the Milken Institute. The cumbersomely named San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area hasn’t taken the top spot since 2001.

While Congress and the president recently hiked taxes for 77 percent of the nation’s taxpayers, proposals for sweeping tax cuts continue to gain momentum at the state level. As the White House and Congress seem determined to make the U.S. even less economically competitive, states like Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma are considering a phase-out of their income taxes. The Wall Street Journal correctly calls it a “Heartland Tax Rebellion.”

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has occasionally been prickled by claims that Texas is a better place to do business than California, was asked on Marketplace Morning Report today if the Golden State was falling behind.

In the past 12 years, the Inland Empire beat out high-tech hubs like Seattle, San Francisco and Silicon Valley in the creation of high-tech jobs.

Melton International Tackle, which sells fishing gear worldwide, is marking 20 years in business in Anaheim during 2013. It may be the last.

As Democrats contemplate what to do with their new supermajority power in the Legislature, they should avoid Republicans’ worst fears: tax increases to restore depleted services. Nearly 2 million Californians remain unemployed. Economic growth must be a top priority. And one of the best ways to accomplish it is to reform the California Environmental Quality Act.

The chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday said the “exploding national debt” is the greatest threat to the U.S. economy.

States Are Sending Recruiters to California to Lure Companies With the Prospect of Lower Taxes and Fewer Regulations