"Amid crisis, pockets of prosperity; Some states with key resources enjoying booms" by Daniel Wagner, Associated Press | October 10, 2008
WASHINGTON - As the national economic meltdown takes its toll on local economies, some out-of-the-way states are enjoying unprecedented prosperity. Home prices in states like Wyoming, West Virginia, and North Dakota continue to rise, wages are growing and unemployment is at record lows.
While at least 23 states and the District of Columbia scramble to cut their spending, these states and others like them are enjoying economic boom times.
Then WHY all the FEAR promoted last week to get that WALL STREET GIVEAWAY through, huh?
And now the government looters want PATIENCE?
FUK YOU!!!!!!!!!
These geographically and socially disparate states share two key characteristics, analysts and officials said. They are isolated from major urban centers - and thus from the housing bust and loss of financial industry jobs that have hobbled other economies. And they benefit from an abundance of in-demand commodities such as coal, natural gas, and grain, whose prices remain at historically high levels despite recent drops sparked by fears of a global recession.
"The downturn in the economy has winners and losers," explained Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers.
Wyoming anticipates a $100 million budget surplus this year, and its economy has grown threefold since 2001. North Dakota has rising wages and an unemployment rate that is half the national average. And West Virginia's top budget official says the state's economy is better than at any time since it was founded in 1863.
"They may not be wealthy states, but they pretty much all have budget surpluses," allowing them to consider tax cuts or new spending, said Michael Bird, federal affairs counsel with the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Meanwhile, traditionally wealthy states are cutting back in the face of declining tax revenues and higher borrowing costs. Virginia's governor just ordered the layoffs of 570 state employees, and a Florida agency recently proposed selling the state's fleet of airplanes. California and Massachusetts have asked the federal government for unprecedented short-term loans that they normally would be able to secure from private markets.
See: As California Goes, So Goes Massachusetts and Mass. Economy at the Mercy of Wall Street as it Borrows Itself Into Oblivion
These widespread hardships throw into sharp relief the relative prosperity of rural, commodity-rich states like Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Montana.
Mineral wealth does not guarantee economic strength, however. Nor does isolation from the housing bubble guarantee fiscal fitness. --more--"
Translation: This article was a bunch of agenda-pushing bullshit!
Of course, this is the same propagandist paper that claims a depression would be a good idea; being poor is your fault; Boston business benefits from financial failings; financial failures are a good thing; and that these are the best of times .
