NC Economy far from a real recovery
Published February 2, 2014
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, February 1, 2014.
Gov. Pat McCrory's declaration that we're in a "Carolina Comeback" is a spinner's delight. There are statistics to bolster just about everyone's view.
The state's unemployment rate has fallen more than 2 percentage points in the past year, landing at 6.9 percent - within shooting distance of the national average. That's certainly a move in the right direction, and we'll add our enthusiastic cheer.
Last week, we learned about another measure of this state's economic health, and it's not encouraging. The Corporation for Enterprise Development, a national nonprofit that helps create business opportunities for lower-income workers, released its 2014 "Assets and Opportunity Scorecard." The study measures how many households have sufficient savings to cope with a three-month emergency, such as a job loss or a health crisis.
The study found that 51.5 percent of this state's families couldn't do it. They're living paycheck-to-paycheck and don't have savings to cover 90 days of basic expenses at the federal poverty level.
That news alone is worrisome. When it's put in a national perspective, it gets worse: North Carolina ranks 46th in the nation.
That's not the only bad news. We rank 42nd in small-business ownership and in disparities in business ownership by race - white residents are more than twice as likely to own a business. We also rank 37th in percentage of uninsured residents.
The report says that, "While North Carolina does well in policy areas such as protections against predatory lending, the loss of the N.C. Earned Income Tax Credit, the failure to extend unemployment and implement the expansion of Medicaid, and changes to the sales tax have only increased challenges for families struggling to make ends meet."
Maybe the governor is right. Maybe we're heading in the right economic direction. But this new set of statistics says the rising tide still hasn't lifted everyone's boats. We've got a lot of work to do.
February 2, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Norm Kelly says:
No doubt there is more work to do. But is this editorialist suggesting that Republicans have been given sufficient opportunity to try something new and it's time to go back to the old way of doing things? Is this author suggesting that things were better off when sales taxes were 'temporarily' increased on a permanent basis, when the gas tax was continuously allowed to increase because the state simply couldn't afford to NOT increase the gas tax? How about going back to the old way of doing things like the state stealing sales tax money from the counties because the state couldn't afford to do without it? How about the state stealing the money from the E-911 fund that I pay into every month because the state couldn't afford to do without it? How about the state building a tea cup museum? How about the state buying a lake ferry to use as a school bus to get kids from the outer banks area to main-land based schools on the OCEAN? How about the state forcing everyone's property insurance premiums to be artificially inflated so the 'special' people who own property along the coast can have artificially deflated insurance premiums?
What part of 'the old way' of doing things does this editorial want us to cherish and pine for? What part of experimenting with something new does this editorial oppose?
When the central planners (in washington) came out with unemployment statistics and the general response from the right was that the number only looked good because the feds stopped counting those who stopped looking, how did this editorialist respond? Did you come out in defense of his high holiness? Did you comment about how this was true and unfortunate? Or are you only complaining about the way NC government counts unemployment because they are Republicans? I do not know enough about you, am not familiar enough with your writings to know if you responded at all when the feds used the same numbers. But it would be nice if we had the opportunity to look back on your postings to know if you are capable of seeing both sides, or if you only complain about Republican numbers and ideas.
Is there a Republican in Raleigh that has said their job is done? Have they said that everything is in line now and their goals have been achieved, it's time to coast? Or are the Republicans coming back to Raleigh to continue their work? I suggest that the Republicans have only started, and a change in direction is definitely worth trying for a while. Look at the stats to know this is true. Which states are in better financial and economic condition? Those run by liberals or those run by conservatives? Where are the most communities located that are filing bankruptcy or close to it? Are they in conservative states or liberal states? Are they owned by the libs or conservatives? After you've done this research, and reported honestly about it, then come back and tell us that the old, tired, failing plans of the libs is definitely the way to go. Except, when you've done the research and reported honestly about it, you will be forced to conclude that the Republican/conservative direction is the right one (and the proper one!).
February 2, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Gary Arrington says:
This statement "Without benefits, many have simply stopped looking and are no longer counted as unemployed" just defies common sense. If they've stopped looking, what are they doing? How do they eat? How do they pay their power bill? How do they buy gas? Who among us could just decide to stay home and not even look for work?
