Last year, I did a couple of posts about rising income inequality and the struggles of the middle class. Today, I want to look at a similar topic, how much of the past few decade's economic growth has been felt by the middle class. I'll do this by comparing different measures of economic growth with…
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This past Friday we talked about the illusions that some people have about the role of government in the "free market." Another wrinkle in the free market mythology is how the federal government supports what Alexander Hamilton called "infant industries" with direct investments, subsidies and tariffs. This is especially true when it comes to the…
The State Journal published a piece by former WV Delegate Pat McGeehan where he says that the only way to create jobs in the Mountain State is "f Government Gets out of the Way." He lists the usual conservative/libertarian ideas of less regulation, protect private property, abolish the income tax, and decentralize government. As my…
West Virginia's natural gas industry has received significant attention in the past few years, particularly with the development of the Marcellus Shale. The increase in attention and activity has led to an increase in jobs in the industry, but what exactly are the jobs and are they all reacting to the Marcellus boom equally? In their…
The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at WVU recently released population projections for West Virginia over the next 15 years. According to their projections, West Virginia's population will grow by 39,811 from 2010 to 2015, an increase of 2.1 percent. While the projected total population changes are minor, the changes in demographics are drastic. The following…
Our recent Jobs Count report showed that the economy has added zero net jobs since June and the unemployment rate remains above 8 percent. As a previous post had noted, the momentum the economy seemed to have been building during the recover has been lost over the past few months. However, one sector of the economy has been…
A little humor for the day via Krugman Blog..
One idea we've championed in the past is the creation of a trust fund for economic development and diversification funded through an increase in West Virginia's severance tax levied on coal and natural gas extraction. But would raising the severance tax make it too expensive to mine coal or drill for natural gas in West Virginia, and…
I've talked before about the relationship (or lack thereof) between the level of business taxation and economic growth in the states, concluding that things like quality public services, access to markets and inputs, and a quality workforce all matter more to economic growth and prosperity than taxes. But there is another argument out there that is closely related to the business…
Friday morning's news that there was no job growth in the month of August sent disappointment throughout the country, and stoked fears that another recession may be around the corner. The meager 17,000 private sector jobs added were offset by an equal loss of public sector workers, as state and local governments continued to make cutbacks. A…