Peak California

California is hard to beat. There are richer places with worse weather, there are (a few) nicer climates with worse economies, but it’s really hard to find any place on planet earth that’s nicer to live in and to work in. There’s a consensus among smart people that the Bay Area is the place to be, and they relocate accordingly.

Smart people are generally right on average. But whenever the consensus among smart people is that you can make a given decision without thinking too hard, beware: the flip side of intelligence is the ability to rationalize bad decisions rather than admit your mistakes. It took…