The Washington Post is reporting that top New Mexico economist Dr. Lee A. Reynis, director of the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research gave a bleak picture of New Mexico’s economy at an annual economic forecasting conference Thursday.
Reynis reveled in her presentation that New Mexico’s population growth is approaching zero percent, the gap between the wealthy and the poor is greater than ever, New Mexico is grossly dependent on Food Stamps, the education gap is as large as in any other state and we are dependent on government jobs instead of private sector jobs.
Despite Reynis ending her talk with, the state “needs to protect its water resources, to deal with income inequality and deep and persistent poverty, to address the inadequacy of its public education system,” a typical progressive viewpoint dripping with Keynesian economics, the facts point to a different conclusion.
Read the Washington Post article here.
Zero population growth is being caused by abortion rates, birth control, regulations and taxes that cause people to move. These are major parts of the progressive worldly agenda. New Mexico leads the nation for the number of abortions, its just that simple. Add to that, the business unfriendly taxes and regulations that prevent businesses from thriving why should people live here.
From the article: “from a 2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report, shows that by the late 2000′s, New Mexico was home to the widest gaps between its wealthiest residents and its middle and lower classes.”
What many people, especially liberals, fail to understand is that socialism and progressive economic policies create the dreaded income inequality they talk about so much.
As more regulation and taxation is heaped on, an interesting thing begins to occur. The ruling class becomes corrupt, powerful and wealthy. In New Mexico prime examples of this happening by the late 2000’s would be Manny Aragon and Bill Richardson. Those in the private sector who want to do well in this environment, “pay to play.” This allows a very few winners and a whole lot of losers.
The article also points out, “A similar trend is apparent in education, with New Mexico ranking fourth among states on PhD holders and in the bottom 10 on those with a bachelors or higher degree.”
This one is simple. We have a great number of PhD holders due to government jobs at Los Alamos, Sandia Labs, and many other government funded facilities. New Mexico does not encourage education but we sink a whole lot of money into it.
The article also points to New Mexico’s food stamp problem, “Over the past five years, there has been a big increase in the use of food stamps and Medicaid. Welfare rose but is close to its pre-recession levels.”
New Mexico, for decades, has been enslaved by progressives into dependency to food stamps and other social programs. It has only gotten worse under Richardson and Obama. We may never be able to be a free and independent state.
Overall the article gives a sobering picture of New Mexico’s state of economic affairs. The article and Dr. Reynis fall in to progressive catch 22. There solution to an economy devastated by progressive liberalism is (wait for it) more progressive liberalism. Reynis, like most university economists cannot see the madness of Keynesian economics.
New Mexico has failed to learn its lesson and therefore is doomed to repeat it.
