America’s descent into Rona madness is now nearly four years behind us, but some of its worst impacts linger. Take the matter of jobs. In November, 15 states posted lower employment levels than in February 2020.
Not a joke, folks. Zero net job growth for far too many of the laboratories of democracy: Vermont (-0.07 percent), Minnesota (-0.26 percent), Iowa (-0.58 percent), Maine (-0.58 percent), Ohio (-0.90 percent), Mississippi (-0.93 percent), New York (-1.21 percent), Kentucky (-1.50 percent), Illinois (-1.55 percent), Connecticut (-1.66 percent), California (-1.78 percent), Massachusetts (-1.79 percent), New Hampshire (-1.88 percent), Hawaii (-2.63 percent).
The largest dunce cap goes to Maryland, with a loss of 5.01 percent. The Old Line State, which will celebrate its quatercentenary in a decade, is mired in economic malaise. But a new data dump by the leftist lawyer voters picked for CFO in 2022 finds that the troubles began before COVID-19 hysteria.
The “Comptroller of Maryland’s inaugural State of the Economy Report” assembles a bracing compilation of facts, including:
* inflation-adjusted gross domestic product is “just 1.6% higher as of the first quarter of 2023 than it was at the end of 2016,” while “U.S. real GDP grew 13.9% during the same period”
* federal jobs comprise “5.7% of total Maryland employment,” although “the federal government is one of the smallest industries in the U.S. at 1.9% of total employment” — and the state’s D.C.-payroll gigs have “grown faster than … in other parts of the country,” with the “gains … offset by a lagging private sector”
* labor participation, in decline before lockdown, “has subsequently not recovered even though it has in most states and the U.S.”
* “for the last ten years, Maryland has experienced domestic outmigration — Maryland residents moving to other states in greater numbers than those moving into Maryland”
* “Maryland consistently ranked among the top 10 worst states with the highest opioid-related death rates” between 2014 and 2021
The failure is notable, given Maryland’s many natural advantages. And no asset is more valuable than location. Sandwiched between the Northeast and what was once the Confederate States of America, Maryland is perfectly positioned to reap the goodies of old money and new money. (Last year, Bloomberg calculated that Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee now contribute “more to the national GDP than the … Washington-New York-Boston corridor.”)
But the opportunity’s being squandered. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that Maryland, once home to many a Reagan Democrat, was experiencing “a dramatic liberal shift.” The “business” community everywhere knuckled under to Big Government long ago, and it’s rare for a corporatist mouthpiece to voice any dissent. But a decade after the Post’s article, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s Mary D. Kane boldly lamented that “Maryland and its businesses are grappling with high costs of living and high business costs, high taxation rates, a challenging business environment, and restrictive economic, fiscal and regulatory policies.”
No kidding. The Cato Institute’s latest assessment of freedom in the states ranks the state 44th in economic liberty. The competitiveness survey issued by the American Legislative Exchange Council scores Maryland at 40th in economic performance and 41st in economic outlook.
What’s the opposite of Maryland? South Dakota fills the bill nicely. It’s deep in Flyover Country, with lots of agriculture, a small federal footprint, and a drastically divergent ethnic/racial makeup. Plus, policymakers in Pierre follow a very different playbook than their counterparts in Annapolis.
And it’s working.
In 1989, Newsweek concluded that the “American Outback” — Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota — was doomed. The region, about to mark the 100th anniversary of entering the union, was “exploited and ignored,” and suffered from “scarcity and stillborn dreams.”
“I’m not sure why we’re celebrating,” sniffed eco-paranoiac, novelist, rancher, and South Dakota resident (born in Ohio, of course) Dan O’Brien.
Since Newsweek’s “journalism,” the Mount Rushmore State’s population has risen by 32 percent. With none of the petro-wealth possessed by its neighbor to north, South Dakota has leveraged a painless tax burden, smart regulations, labor freedom, and fiscal prudence to woo investment and residents. In 2022, Governor Kristi Noem tweeted: “Thousands of people are moving to South Dakota, and they’re not moving here for our beaches. They’re moving because they want to live somewhere where the government respects them.”
Noem’s “Freedom Works Here” initiative is drawing interest from all corners of the country. It might be time for Marylanders to consider a relocation to the “most successful state in the Greater Midwest.”
Every State (including NM) that has been run by liberals for any significant time is suffering economically and it will only get worse. There is nothing to support the Left’s approach to a functioning Government and Society. It’s pure EVIL!!
No state income tax in SD is a big draw. But the biggest reason is a Republican majority that still wants a non-welfare state .