A debate has been taking place these past couple of weeks about the economic state of North Carolina. The unemployment figures have just been released, and we are at a steady 9.4 percent. The national average is 8.2 percent. The News & Observer reported that only four other states – California, Rhode Island, Nevada and New Jersey have higher unemployment than we.
But that figure didn’t stop CNBC from ranking the Tar Heel state #4 in their annual report: America’s Top States for Doing Business. Here are the categories along with rankings:
Category
Score
2012 Rank
2011 Rank
But that figure didn’t stop CNBC from ranking the Tar Heel state #4 in their annual report: America’s Top States for Doing Business. Here are the categories along with rankings:
Category
Score
2012 Rank
2011 Rank
OVERALL
1548
4
3
Not bad for a state with one of the worst unemployment records in the nation. But it gets even better. Forbes Magazine ranked four of our cities the best for business and careers. They are #2 Raleigh, #14th Durham, 17th Asheville and #18th Charlotte.
Charlotte is ranked #18? Am I missing something? I personally know a couple of restaurateurs in Charlotte who would disagree about the friendliness of city and county officials, who lord their authority in this fiefdom called Mecklenburg County. They’ve made these entrepreneurs life a veritable hell. And Charlotte is ranked 18th best? I’d hate to see what these other places are like.
The Civitas Institute also takes issue with some of these glowing articles:
Despite Forbes’ continual glowing praise of these four cities, North Carolina ranked 48th nationally in unemployment in May at a rate of 9.4 percent, the worst in the South. The national average is 8.2 percent.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bev Perdue also insists on ignoring the facts and covering up the state’s harsh economic reality by persistently bragging about job growth in select areas. The Governor’s webpage would make you believe that every spurt of job creation in North Carolina in the past four years was of her own making. Some of the progress she claims is the responsibility of the One North Carolina Fund, a corporate welfare program largely controlled by the Governor, and instituted by the General Assembly in 2001 when the Democrats were still in control.
You mustn’t be fooled by flattering magazine articles or Governor Perdue’s boasts. According to a previous Civitas Review Online article on the issue, many of the jobs she touts have not materialized. They are mere promissory notes by big corporations who are maneuvering to get their hands on taxpayer dollars. The money for the One N.C. Fund is taken from the public and doled out to big business. These funds would be better entrusted to consumers, rather than politicians. With scarce resources, it is imperative that people invest in businesses that provide goods and services that people actually demand, not that Governor Perdue wants just so she can abdicate the throne of “worst governor in the country.”
Of Course, the sycophantic Charlotte Observer picked up on this CNBC absurdity as a means to embarrass republicans and particularly former Charlotte mayor and gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory. Who in turn responded in kind:
The Observer touched on but glossed over an alarming recent study conducted in conjunction with the Kaufman Foundation that interviewed small businesses, the top job creators in our economy. Here is a review of North Carolina’s grades that the Observer didn’t mention: 34th in tax code friendliness or a D+, 33rd in friendliness of licensing regulations or a C-, 38th in publicity of training programs or a D, 38th in friendliness of employment, hiring, and hiring regulations or a D, and a C- in overall regulatory friendliness.
These grades from actual small businesses are much more in line with the feedback personally received from small and large companies while traveling throughout our state. In order to fix our broken economy, businesses need state government to be responsive to their needs, not a hindrance by imposing burdensome taxes and cumbersome regulations.
1548
4
3
Not bad for a state with one of the worst unemployment records in the nation. But it gets even better. Forbes Magazine ranked four of our cities the best for business and careers. They are #2 Raleigh, #14th Durham, 17th Asheville and #18th Charlotte.
Charlotte is ranked #18? Am I missing something? I personally know a couple of restaurateurs in Charlotte who would disagree about the friendliness of city and county officials, who lord their authority in this fiefdom called Mecklenburg County. They’ve made these entrepreneurs life a veritable hell. And Charlotte is ranked 18th best? I’d hate to see what these other places are like.
The Civitas Institute also takes issue with some of these glowing articles:
Despite Forbes’ continual glowing praise of these four cities, North Carolina ranked 48th nationally in unemployment in May at a rate of 9.4 percent, the worst in the South. The national average is 8.2 percent.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bev Perdue also insists on ignoring the facts and covering up the state’s harsh economic reality by persistently bragging about job growth in select areas. The Governor’s webpage would make you believe that every spurt of job creation in North Carolina in the past four years was of her own making. Some of the progress she claims is the responsibility of the One North Carolina Fund, a corporate welfare program largely controlled by the Governor, and instituted by the General Assembly in 2001 when the Democrats were still in control.
You mustn’t be fooled by flattering magazine articles or Governor Perdue’s boasts. According to a previous Civitas Review Online article on the issue, many of the jobs she touts have not materialized. They are mere promissory notes by big corporations who are maneuvering to get their hands on taxpayer dollars. The money for the One N.C. Fund is taken from the public and doled out to big business. These funds would be better entrusted to consumers, rather than politicians. With scarce resources, it is imperative that people invest in businesses that provide goods and services that people actually demand, not that Governor Perdue wants just so she can abdicate the throne of “worst governor in the country.”
Of Course, the sycophantic Charlotte Observer picked up on this CNBC absurdity as a means to embarrass republicans and particularly former Charlotte mayor and gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory. Who in turn responded in kind:
The Observer touched on but glossed over an alarming recent study conducted in conjunction with the Kaufman Foundation that interviewed small businesses, the top job creators in our economy. Here is a review of North Carolina’s grades that the Observer didn’t mention: 34th in tax code friendliness or a D+, 33rd in friendliness of licensing regulations or a C-, 38th in publicity of training programs or a D, 38th in friendliness of employment, hiring, and hiring regulations or a D, and a C- in overall regulatory friendliness.
These grades from actual small businesses are much more in line with the feedback personally received from small and large companies while traveling throughout our state. In order to fix our broken economy, businesses need state government to be responsive to their needs, not a hindrance by imposing burdensome taxes and cumbersome regulations.
All I have to say is thank God I live in North Carolina! According to Forbes Magazine and CNBC this is paradise. I’d hate to see what passes for hell.
Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/21/2210188/state-unemployment-rate-is-unchanged.html
http://www.nccivitas.org/2012/nc-needs-a-reality-check/
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45ihgm/2-raleigh-n-c/#gallerycontent
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/13/3381513/government-should-help-not-hinder.html
http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/nc-bad-for-business-thats-myth.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46415267/
Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/21/2210188/state-unemployment-rate-is-unchanged.html
http://www.nccivitas.org/2012/nc-needs-a-reality-check/
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45ihgm/2-raleigh-n-c/#gallerycontent
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/13/3381513/government-should-help-not-hinder.html
http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/nc-bad-for-business-thats-myth.html
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46415267/
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