While the past 15 years haven’t been easy, the U.S. economy still managed to grow by 16.7 percent when measured on a per-person basis. In Alabama, economic output per person grew by 16.3 percent; in Massachusetts, it grew by 28 percent.
But in two states out of 50, economic output per person has actually fallen since 1998. According to new, inflation-adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, those two states are Nevada and Georgia.
Put another way, when the 21st century began, economic output per person in Georgia stood at $903 above the national average. By last year, it had fallen $6,621 below the national average. That startling decline is felt by every working person and business in the state. It also cannot be solely or even largely explained away by the recession. Between 2000 and 2007 — the supposed boom years — Georgia’s per capita GDP had already flatlined. The recession merely accelerated a decline that was already underway.
What we’re doing is not working. More of the same will produce more of the same. Yet more of the same is all we’re getting.
For example, in a speech last year before the Georgia Logistics Summit, Gov. Nathan Deal stressed the importance of transportation to a state built on the swift, efficient movement of goods and people.
“We all know that we have come a long way in the state of Georgia, from dirt roads and steam locomotives to a state where you can reach 80 percent of the United States market within a two-day truck drive or a two-hour flight time,” Deal told the conference. He lauded “a well-developed road system that includes five major interstates and 20,000 miles of federal and state highways and the world’s busiest airport.”
Deal did not mention that Georgia ranks 49th in per capita spending on transportation. He did not mention that over the long term, it is absolutely impossible to sustain a first-class transportation system and an economy built around logistics while refusing to invest adequately in infrastructure. He did not mention that he and other state leaders have offered no plans for addressing that obvious shortfall.
If previous generations of Georgians had operated under a similar philosophy, we would not have those 20,000 miles of highways and the world’s busiest airport. We would still have dirt roads.
Earlier this month, in fact, Deal announced that he had pre-empted what would have been a slight, automatic increase in the state gasoline tax that funds transportation. “To remove this financial burden on Georgia taxpayers and businesses, I signed an executive order suspending the motor fuel tax increase set for next month,” he said. “This will help cut costs for families and keep us the No. 1 place in the nation for business.”
That same philosophy also explains why tuition and fees paid by students at Georgia universities rose by 93 percent in the last five years. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, that’s faster than any state in the country with the sole exception of New Mexico. Those increases were forced by cuts in state spending, but as an economic development policy, slashing support for higher education leads us down a bad road.
A dirt road.
