If we look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the combined national output that measures the country’s economic growth, the US Department of commerce says that in the first quarter of this year the GDP shrank from the last quarter of 2015 by 0.6 percent to a mere 0.8 percent. You can’t create jobs when production is down. And our national production isn’t just down it is in the toilet.
Right about now, you might well ask how this can be. Aren’t we living in the greatest country in the world? Didn’t our government leaders tell us the recession was over? Well yes, they also told us if you like your healthcare plan, you could keep it and that health care would cost less. I’m just saying if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, just because the government says it’s an eagle doesn’t make it so.
The United States government has been making a concerted effort to make doing business in this country as difficult as possible. From licensing, regulating, taxation, and fees, creating a new business is an entirely unappealing prospect. Throw in the government pro-union stance and you have a distinctly hostile atmosphere toward business and job creation.
The worst state for businesses, as ranked by Chief Executive magazine, is California. That’s right, a survey of 513 CEOs across the nation ranked California dead last right below New York and Illinois. Texas ranked number one in this survey, followed by Florida. And this isn’t a new low for California it has achieved that rank for the last eleven years in a row!
Chief Executive magazine commented about the low ranking: “Despite high taxes and a non-business-friendly environment, California remains a hotbed for tech, venture capital, and entertainment. Even with a quality workforce, this west coast state has not had any success in replacing lost business.”
About the leader in job creation, the magazine said, “Since the recession began in December 2007, 1.2 million net jobs have been created in Texas, while 700,000 net jobs were created in the other 49 states combined. From climate to transportation to cost of living, Texas has proven it can’t be beat.” Texans are always bragging about their state. Maybe they have good reason to brag.
Lost business. Yes, folks, the next time you see a big rig on the freeway, it might be loaded with the next business and its jobs leaving this state, maybe headed to Texas, or even worse headed to Mexico.
The Bloomberg website lists 84 companies that have fled the US due primarily to taxation. However, taxes are merely one component of the hostile business environment our government has created. Of the businesses in the Chief Executive survey, the top ten are Right to Work (RTW) states, while the bottom ten are non-RTW states.
Now comes the real rub, the jobs leaving the state are mostly in the higher paying manufacturing sector. What are left are mostly jobs in the service sector – the minimum wage jobs. Just ask anyone who lost his or her job at the beginning of the recession if they were able to find one that equals or beats the wages at the one they lost.
The government knows this that is why they clamored to hike the minimum wage to unbelievable heights. So what is left might very likely be $15 an hour wage people supporting other $15 an hour people. No society can be sustained by a service-only economic sector. In order for an economy to be productive and advance, it must include a manufacturing sector.
No folks, the recession is decidedly not over. The truly sad part of this tale is that politicians are telling us how they can fix this problem by adding more regulations. What they don’t seem to understand is that more government is not the solution it’s what spawned the problem in the first place.
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