Dan Gearino reported Wednesday in The Columbus Dispatch figures from the U.S. Commerce Department Bureau of Economic Analysis. Ohio's GDP (the total value of goods and services produced in Ohio) dropped from $388 billion in 2007 to $386 billion in 2008, a decline of 0.7%. The comparable per-capita figures were $33,829 in 2007 and $33,568 in 2008. The national per-capita GDP is $37,899.
While this causes Ohio to rank 45th among the 50 States and the District of Columbia in GDP change, the difference may not be as bad as it seems. Ohio also has, by national standards, a relatively low cost of living. We have to keep in mind that natural resources, which are the beginning point of all industrial activity, are not infinite. If we suffer a slight drop, but build the conditions for sustainable economic activity in the future, we will be doing ourselves a favor on the long run.
One other thing, well worth noting: The State that showed the greatest gain in GDP was North Dakota (7.3%), which far outpaced second-place Wyoming (4.4%). You don't suppose the fact that North Dakota has a State bank that operates largely outside the Federal Reserve (and therefore not as vulnerable to the Fed's manipulations) would have something to do with that, do you?
1 comment:
Wise banking, no doubt, however the revenue generator to allow the state bank to be wise is Bakken.
From the Bakken Shale blogspot:
"North Dakota Breaks All Time Oil Production Record For 2008
Bakken Output Increases 269%
"North Dakota’s (sic) produced more oil in 2008 than in any year since commercial production was established in the state in 1951. The state reported production of 62,776,123 bo, up an impressive 39% compared to the 45,121,983 bo extracted a year earlier. 2008 shatters the previous record, which was set in 1984, when the state produced 52,658,396 bo. It appears that North Dakota will be the top oil producer for the first time in the Rocky Mountain Region beating out Wyoming, who has perennially claimed that #1 spot."
Of course, were we not at Peak Oil the majors would not be bothering with Bakken nor with the oil sands in Alberta.
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