Blog

September 30, 2010 by Ted Boettner
WV State and Local Workers Rank Almost Last in Pay

There's been considerable press over the last couple of years about the costs associated with the retiree health care subsidy (affectionately know as OPEB or Other Post Employment Benefits) offered to state and local employees. I've written about it several times in the past. The basic story is that this subsidy is too generous and…

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September 27, 2010 by Sean O'Leary
Cost of the Recession: 35,000 Rural Jobs in West Virginia

Here is an article done by the folks at the Center for Rural Strategies, which I may have stolen the title from, about the impact of the Great Recession on rural counties. West Virginia was one of four states, the others being Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia, that lost over 10 percent of their rural jobs. Since July…

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September 15, 2010 by Sean O'Leary
WV Economic Growth by Gubernatorial Administration (1941-2009)

Often when analysts or journalists look at economic growth over a long period of time, they tend to break things down by decade, comparing the 2000s to the 1990s and so on. Sometimes they will look at economic trends by presidential administration, often to tie economic growth or decline to particular administrations and their policies.…

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September 8, 2010 by Sean O'Leary
Shale Gas Development is Poised to Play a Major Role in West Virginia’s Future

Natural gas is quickly becoming one of the most important contributors to the nation's energy portfolio. Natural gas is a very versatile energy source and emits lower levels of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants than coal and oil. Natural gas will likely be an integral part of the nation's energy future. Natural gas production…

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September 8, 2010 by Ted Boettner
Capito’s “False Choice” on Bush Tax Cuts

Congresswomen Capito argued in the Gazette on "Labor Day"  (of all days...) to renew Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. In the op-ed, Capito resorted to presenting voters with a "false choice" about the Bush tax cuts and by presenting the facts in a way that would make Orwell blush. Here's Capito:    "Contrary to popular belief, the…

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September 1, 2010 by WVCBP
Best Two Months Cash Flow Report Since 2006

There is bright news coming from the West Virginia State Budget Office August cash flow report.  General Revenues collected in August are ahead of schedule, most likely due to increased sales in back-to-school purchases and improvements in business activity due to stimulus spending.  General Revenue collections were up $31 million dollars at the end of…

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August 28, 2010 by Sean O'Leary
Growing Income Inequality

I've talked before about how the middle class is falling behind, due to rising income inequality. One way to measure inequality is the Gini Index. The Gini index is used to measure the distribution of income in a region. The higher the score on the Gini index, the greater the income inequality. A score of 1…

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August 27, 2010 by Sean O'Leary
Another Look at West Virginia Employment

Ted pointed out that West Virginia's employment level is at its lowest point in 14 years. A closer look shows that West Virginia's employment situation has been pretty bad for decades. One measure of how well a state or region provides employment is the employment-to-population ratio or employment rate. This ratio is the number of…

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August 26, 2010 by Ted Boettner
Beckley Register Alters My Commentary with “Clean Coal”

The Beckley Register decided to have some fun with my commentary this morning. Instead of reading it as a statement about moving away from coal (i.e. "transition"),  they injected their own political opinion (perhaps for publication purposes) by creating an artificial headline that says "State should seize opportunity of clean coal energy."    For the record, and…

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August 24, 2010 by Ted Boettner
State Employment Lowest Since 1994

Since the national recession started in December 2007, West Virginia has lost 18,200 jobs or 2.4 percent of its job base. West Virginia's job deficit - or the total number of jobs needed to keep pace with the working age population growth since the recession started -  is about 25,600.  West Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment…

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