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Weakonomics Tour Of The Country: Tennessee

The Weakonomist — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:50:20 +0000

AKA the “Long & Lean” State

Tennessee always brings to mind an old song written by Jimmy Driftwood and best performed by Doc Watson called “Tennessee Stud“. The song describes the 19th century south with that explorer’s attitude. It includes run ins with Native Americans, crossing rivers with horses, and a folksy feel.

I imagine people that haven’t been or know of Tennessee might imagine the state is the same as it was almost 200 years ago. But they would be gravely mistaken and miss out on some of the most important contributions to our culture today, and a host of other things. Let’s look closer at Tennessee.

Prior to the 20th century there was little that distinguished any one southern state from another. Maybe the soil was a little better for one crop over another, but nothing too special was going on; everybody was farming. Today poultry, soybeans, cotton, and cattle are the main agricultural outputs. But during the Great Depression Tennessee got a big boost in the form of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA was established in the early 1930s to provide economic development and electricity to Tennessee and some surrounding areas. Dams were built, flood controls put in, and economic stability came to the area. Today the TVA mostly operates as a utility but it brought a significant portion of the south into the 20th century.

Partially aided by the TVA, but already long in place, was a significant manufacturing presence in Tennessee. They make things you use every day, but don’t really think about. Chemicals, transportation equipment, and stuff for electrical work. The Eastman Chemical Company is located in Kingsport, TN and makes everything from polymers to polyester. Speaking of polyester, Tennessee still has a decent level of output in textiles.

In addition to Eastman, there are a few big companies located throughout the state. Memphis, despite an otherwise poor reputation is the headquarters of Fedex, International Paper, and Autozone. Nissan has their US homebase in Franklin, TN and a huge new Volkswagen facility is going in Chattanooga. Knoxville is home to the Regal movie theaters, Bush’s Baked Beans, and the company that owns The Food Network, HGTV, and some other channels like those.

Speaking of Knoxville, that’s home to the University of Tennessee which is a powerhouse of research and economic support for the region. Another institution is down the road a few hours in Nashville and that’s Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is home to nationally recognized medical, nursing, law, and education schools. The business school is also pretty big around the south. But we all know Nashville for one major thing: the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. Just kidding, country music of course!

But the talk of music really spans more than just Nashville. Memphis is responsible for Blue, Gospel, Rock n’Roll, and even Crunk (don’t ask). Think of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Isaac Hayes, BB King, Justin Timberlake, Tina Turner, and even Three 6 Mafia. Listing the people that are responsible for music out of Nashville would take all day. But as you can tell, Tennessee is big for music and likely only behind LA and NYC in terms of total output. If you haven’t been to the South, Country music is kind of big there.

People come to Tennessee to see the cultural impact music has had on the state, but they also come for some other things. The eastern border, which is shared with North Carolina, is home to the Great Smokey Mountains which is the busiest national park in the country.

Despite what appears to be a fairly diverse economy, Tennessee has suffered as of late. It has one of the higher unemployment rates in the country. Residents do benefit from having an interesting income tax. It isn’t based on your salary but instead on investment income. The deficit is made up on a higher sales tax.

In all, Tennessee is a state important for some serious manufacturing and much of the culture that arose from the Great Depression all the way up to now. But it also looks like Tennessee’s best days are behind them. At least for now. They have all the tools for a great and diverse economy but a still very rural population and disaggregated business centers continue to hold back a state that can’t be beaten in music and culture.

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Weakonomics Tour of the Country: Kentucky

The Weakonomist — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:50:03 +0000

AKA the “Heart of America” state

Our tour of the nation’s economy continues with Kentucky. Kentucky was formed after the American Revolution when its residents separated from Virginia (West Virginia would do the same, but much later).

From that time on Kentucky was very much like many other southern states, especially the likes of Virginia, NC and Tennessee. Agriculture was very important to Kentucky. This was especially important due to the trade routes the existed while the country was still developing. The Ohio river bordered the north and fed to the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. In the early days they farmed just about anything (like everyone else), but as specialization and consolidation rose in the 20th century, Kentucky’s focus shifted towards livestock. This includes cattle and goats, and the state is well known for their tradition of horses. They also do corn, wheat, tobacco, and apples in large quantities.

Like most states though, agriculture just doesn’t provide the jobs it used to. After WWII, manufacturing became very important to the Kentucky economy. This was similarly important to states on the northern border now known as the rust belt. The decline of manufacturing has hit the state hard, but they have been able to hold on to a few key products.

And by key, I mean real American product. The big brother of the best selling vehicle in the country (Ford F150) is made in Kentucky. These Ford Super Duty trucks do everyone from towing horses to EMS duty as ambulances. The best selling car in the US (the Toyota Camry) is also made in Kentucky. And one cannot forget the iconic Chevrolet Corvette, which has been made in Kentucky since the early 1980s and doesn’t look to be moving any time soon.

But Kentucky doesn’t just make cars and car parts. Though the supporting industries provide a lot of jobs, there’s an even more important manufacturer in Kentucky. Have you heard of a company called United States Enrichment Corporation? I doubt it, I sure hadn’t. It is not something that enriches people or society. They enrich uranium. And if you didn’t pay attention in science class or never watched a world domination movie, enriched uranium is vital to nuclear power plants (and bombs). As of right now, the only fully operating facility in the US is based in Kentucky. Not only is this vital for national security (don’t want a breach there) but it’s vital for our energy needs.

If that doesn’t have you energized enough, Kentucky is also important to another energy source, coal. The Appalachian Mountains are full of coal, and while we usually think of West Virginia and coal, Kentucky has their own motherload. This is mostly in the eastern part of the state, but there is another set of deposits that starts in the west and stretches north into Illinois. It is estimated that between coal and the nuclear rods, almost a quarter of our nation’s electricity production depends on Kentucky.

While that seems important, all is not well in Kentucky. Their unemployment rate is almost always higher than the national average, and there are many areas suffering. There are generous incentives in place for startup companies in Kentucky, but we haven’t seen anything huge. They have been able to get some big employers in the region with a number of UPS hubs and their global air hub called Worldport. They are still well known for their Bourbon too.

One of Kentucky’s greatest draws is its natural preservation. They have large portions of the state protected by local and national government. And they have successfully reintroduced certain species of animals that were extinct east of the Mississippi. This beauty, combined with an excellent reputation of college basketball and horsing tradition, gives the state a decent level of tourism income for one without a beach.

So it’s not the sexiest state, but Kentucky gets by. And with the types of cars they produce, their importance to our nation’s energy production, and of course the bourbon, there’s no question the heart of America is in Kentucky.

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Home Is Where Your (Economic) Heart Is

The Weakonomist — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:42:01 +0000

On this blog and many others, the focus is always on news and topics with national or international implications. Links come from large publications and the scope is usually wide. But I want to remind you that while the topics people like me cover are important, you can’t ignore your local economy and political system.

Take this chart above. It is showing you the unemployment rate in Nevada, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania, as well as the entire US. If you look at the patterns they all seem similar. But upon closer scrutiny each one moves differently in some months. Each state has many factors at work. Nevada has been hard hit thanks to housing. South Dakota has a low rate, but unlike Pennsylvania has show no real improvement from its recession high. What is making all this happen? I don’t know.

But part of what you need to be doing is studying this stuff for your home state, region, and town. For a town it’s a big deal when a company announces a new plant that will create hundreds of jobs with an average pay of $60k. But to the US that matters little.

Some portion of your daily reading needs to include local economic and business news. I try to show you bits and pieces with my Tour Of The Country posts, but at this rate it will be 2014 before I cover all the states.

My morning reading always starts with headlines from the US and the world. But I always devote a portion of my news consumption to local news. The local news will likely have a larger impact on my life than the big headlines. The best places to get this news are your local newspaper. I don’t get the paper but I do go to my local paper’s website and read the news there. You can find all kinds of things like unemployment rate and housing prices, and new companies moving into town. This can have big implications for your career.

The local news may not be as fun to debate in the comments on blogs, but it’s no less important. If you read blogs and the news because you want to be informed and well rounded person, it would be irresponsible not to also know what’s going on in your local economy.

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Weakonomics Tour Of The Country: Vermont

The Weakonomist — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:30:43 +0000

AKA “The Leafer State”

Vermont is the beautiful New England state that time forgot. You never hear anything about it. Unlike it’s neighbor New Hampshire which hogs all the glory with beach property, primary elections, and an Ivy League school. Vermont was just sitting around smoking pot in college while New Hampshire was scheming to make as much money as possible.

But Vermont is so beautiful. With a population that can’t even compete with the residents of Manhattan, Vermont is a small place. They neither grew an incredible amount or shrank an incredible amount as other states have suffered their way through the recession. They are like a flyover state in this respect: quiet, stable, forgettable.

This is hardly a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good one. Me too states like North Carolina have tried to play with the big boys and got hit hard in the recession. Vermont’s unemployment in September 2010 was just 5.8%, much smaller than the national unemployment rate of 9.6%. Stable industry, and beautiful serenity make Vermont the quiet gem of the northeast.

Much of that stability comes in the form of tourism. Starting in the winter Vermont is a sought after ski destination. Heading into spring there are hiking trails, summer has camp and fishing, and in the fall “leafers” come from the major metro areas to view the beautiful foliage. Naturally, such tourism also makes real estate a hot area. Housing is relatively affordable though, as the market once again remained more stable than the rest of the country.

A good state doesn’t just rely on tourism though, and Vermont is no different. Like other small states, it’s a good idea to get the attention of business with favorable tax laws. Delaware wins hands down for such a strategy, but Vermont has carved out a niche: captive insurance. Captive insurance is a type of self-insurance for companies. Companies, or groups of companies, will set up their own insurance corporation to insure themselves against the risks of the industry or company. Vermont is top dog in the US, and second only to Bermuda and the Caymans in total number of captive insurance companies. The state also has a regular insurance industry coupled with finance that all ties well back into real estate.

Vermont does well with manufacturing. IBM provides a large proportion of those jobs. So they are high technology manufacturers and they seek educated workers to do the job. Unfortunately, according to a recent study of employment expenses, Vermont is one of the worst in the country with high manufacturing expenses. These kinds of things could lead to outsourcing, but for now things look good.

Big business is not big in Vermont though. Not a single Fortune 500 company is based there. Sure many might have an office there, but without the central office inside the borders, that means white collar jobs probably aren’t going to find their way into the state. Vermont may not be big business friendly. For example, you can’t open a bank in Vermont. Bank of America and Wells Fargo don’t have branches in Vermont because they can’t. I don’t know exactly what the law says, but if I think that you’d have to buy a bank in the state to move in.

And Vermont just wouldn’t be a state in the union without agriculture. A good example of an industry that is leaving the state behind is dairy farming. Once a titan in the dairy industry, today the number of dairy farmers and total output has been crushed by NY and PA, which provide dairy for the northern states. There are pockets of other farming, but the dairy remains the big cheese.

Being a mountainous state, Vermont has an ample supply of natural resources. It may be the one real industry that’s still booming. They’re the largest provider or granite and slate, along with being major sources of gravel and marble.

In all, as I said, Vermont is the land that time forgot. The people seem content with a relatively uncomplicated life, enjoying the outdoors, and sucking in money from tourists. It’s a model that works well, but with a declining agriculture sector and the danger of lost manufacturing jobs, they may want to skip that extra cup of fresh air and make some plans for the future.

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Weakonomics Tour of the Country: Rhode Island

The Weakonomist — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:34:33 +0000

AKA The “Yes We Are A State” State

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, with the second state (Delaware) almost twice its size. But they make up for it in the size of their name. The full name for the state is actually Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The is the longest name in the union and this came to be thanks to a merger. So yeah, the state could have been smaller.

Wrapped in a blanket of Connecticut and Massachusetts, the state enjoys the pleasure of being within commuting distance of the Greater Boston economic teat. And in fact, much of the population lives around that side of the state. But that’s not to say Rhode Island is just milking the Massachusetts job market. The population within commuting distance of Boston actually lives in the state capital of RI, Providence.

Providence is a hub for health care and some manufacturing specialties. CVS is based just up the road, and the Ivy League school Brown is in town along with their fantastic and highly selective medical school. The combination of the two make for an area that is at the forefront of research and general care. The manufacturer of Cessna planes, toymaker Hasbro, and a power supplies maker all call the area home as well.

Rhode Island also has a not insignificant financial services sector too. A couple of specialized insurance companies and the 14th largest bank (Citizens) are important employers for the state, as well as a lottery and gambling company which in 2010 we can refer to as financial services.

All this in addition to being close to Boston make for a state with money to lose. Residents and the state take in more money through tourism, which is second only to healthcare as the most important industry. Beautiful beaches, and lots of boating businesses which are probably best known to other New Englanders, and the region’s senators.

But there have been some things holding the state back as well. Their tax policies may have kept out residents and businesses for many years, as they tend to be higher than their neighbors only minutes away. That is set to change as new legislation is designed to make the state more competitive with everyone else. Like many other states it has some dying industries. Until the Great Depression, it was the leader in textiles. It lost this business to the south, which then lost it to China. With an unemployment rate regularly among the highest in the nation, they could use a revitalization or tax incentives to bring in jobs.

And of course, it wouldn’t be an American state without some agriculture. Dairy, eggs, nursery stock, and some vegetables are grown in the less populated areas of the state.

All in all Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is a state that manages to have an identity despite it’s small size and high unemployment rate. Perhaps most disturbing, is the thought that most of you recognize Rhode Island from watching too much Family Guy. And no, Quahog is not a real town, though the skyline behind the Griffin’s home is Providence.

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New Jersey’s Reputation

The Weakonomist — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:14:33 +0000

I don’t have anything against the state of New Jersey (click the link for an economic tour of the state). I’m sure it’s a fine and beautiful place. But why are these the two stories I’ve heard about the state in the past few days?

Jersey Politician Draws Total Disability Pay yet Runs Marathons

New Jersey Woman Charged in $45 Million Ponzi Scheme

Both are good reads.

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Weakonomics Tour of the Country: North Carolina

The Weakonomist — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:17:05 +0000

AKA the “Our Industries Left” state

Welcome to North Carolina, home to beautiful coastline, rolling mountains, great people, dying industries, two sources of the financial crisis, and the 10th highest unemployment rate as of March of 2010. North Carolina is a mixed bag of strong growth 21st century industries that’s being held back by the industries of the 20th century.

North Carolina was once a thriving economy backed by manufacturing and agriculture. The farms around the state do well with animals (cattle, poultry, eggs, milk, hogs, and even turkey), but they also do sweet potatoes, soybeans, and the big gun tobacco. They are the biggest grower of tobacco which goes on to support companies like Reynolds American based in NC, which is the second largest tobacco company in the US behind Altria in nearby in Virginia. It’s likely tobacco growers in North Carolina support both of these companies.

North Carolina also had a healthy manufacturing sector. Among the likes of paper, chemicals, furniture, and some electronics, textiles were once a really big contributor to the economy. Though North Carolina remains the textile leader in the US, they’ve lost many jobs to Asia and South America. When you lose lots of manufacturing jobs, the economy is slow to adjust because many of these people were paid good wages and are forced to work for less to keep the lights on. This leads to persistent high unemployment.

But don’t count this state out. They’ve been diversifying their economy for years, and it’s kept them from becoming like Michigan (sorry Michigan). Behind New-York City, Charlotte is the largest financial hub in the country. Bank of America calls Charlotte home (for now) and Wachovia’s headquarters were also there. As you probably know, Wachovia sold themselves to Wells Fargo to avoid a bank failure but many operations remain in town and it serves as the east coast hub for the San-Francisco based bank. Elsewhere in the state BB&T resides which has a very large footprint in the Southeast and is a top 10 or 20 bank depending an how you measure size and define “bank”.

The giant scar of finance isn’t all North Carolina has left though. The area around the capital, Raleigh, is an IT and biotech cluster known as Research Triangle Park (RTP). IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, and SAS all have operations there as well as dozens more. RTP has insprired other metro areas in the state to start their own research areas, and as a result North Carolina is becoming a high demand state for the technologies of tomorrow.

Helping along this development is a university system rivaled by few. The University of North Carolina and Duke University are nationally recognized in sciences and business, and a number of other schools are nationally or regionally important such as Wake Forest University and North Carolina State University. UNC, Duke, and NCSU all play very large roles in the success of RTP.

Finally, there exists an entertainment industry where are few shows and movies have been made around the state. Talladega Nights, The Color Purple, and Hannibal were filmed in NC, as well as a number of television shows and other movies. And where there are movies, you also have the arts. Frankly, I don’t know much about this stuff and don’t know how much it contributes to the economy, but the state pimps it because it gets people like me to talk about it.

One problem with the setup of this economy, as with many economies, is that the urban areas tend to do much better than the rural ones. North Carolina has some rural areas and some urban ones. They’ve got some tourism with wineries, beaches, and mountains. The diverse state is making the transition to the 21st century better than others in the south, but the loss of manufacturing jobs is a generational issue, and will continue to contribute to high unemployment for some time to come.

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Weakonomics Tour Of The Country: New York

The Weakonomist — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:45:41 +0000

AKA The Capital State

Number 11 of the original 13 colonies, New York is one of the most significant states in the country. It trails only behind Texas and California in total economic output. We all know much of this is thanks to New York City, but we’ve got the rest of the state to cover first.

New York state is often overlooked as an economic power, living in the shadows of New York City. It’s quite sad that many people think the capital of the state is NYC, but it also explains why people don’t know much else about the rest of the state.

Canada shares a border with New York, and when Canadians want to vacation in the US they come to New York. They also account for 1/4 of all of the state’s exports. Right across the border into New York is Buffalo, made famous for not a whole lot other than when it snows a lot in the north, the Weather Channel always goes to Buffalo. But the town does play home to a financial sector for regional banks as well as lots of government jobs. If you stay along the interstate heading east, you’ll pass all the major towns in the state including the actual capital, Albany.

Much of the state is rural. Thanks to glaciers carving up the dirt, the state has some great soil for agriculture. Cherries, apples, potatoes, onions, maple syrup, and dairy are among their biggest cash crops. It is the largest producer of cabbage, and certain areas are right for pears, plums and peaches. Grain products like corn, soy beans, wheat, and oats are also grown, along with peas, carrots, and cucumbers.

Mining is also an important contributor to the state’s economy. One area of mining is near NYC and basically supplies the stuff people need to build with in the city. In the mountainous areas, talc, garnets, and zinc are heavily mined. There are also some patchy areas where oil and natural gas can be found. This is not surprising since the first oil rush was started in neighboring Pennsylvania. Manufacturing also plays a role in the economy, but like most areas, it is dwindling. They do some nanotechnology in Albany, ceramics and photographic equipment and some contributions to the rail and bus industries elsewhere.

The state is among the most oddly shaped states, thanks to the phallic like protrusion from the mainland known as long island. Anyone with a map can tell this could have easily been a part of Connecticut or New Jersey, geographically speaking, as it’s basically all the beach access New York has. To get to Long Island you have to drive near or through New York City. Once you get there you will find a diverse economy, largely supported by the intense wealth that calls this place home. You’ve heard of the Hamptons, this is where they are. Thanks to very high property taxes, the government is able to suck away some of that wealth.

But of course, most people are interested in New York City. We learned in New Jersey and Connecticut that many commuters from those states go into the city for work, since they were so close by. So why is New York City such a hub of commerce?

NYC is second only to Tokyo in terms of the single largest hub for commerce in the world. In the early days Manhattan Island was a popular port for shipping goods out of the colonies and bringing goods in. Today that atmosphere is very much alive, but most of the commerce is happening on land. Along with London, NYC’s financial district is the center of the world of finance. It plays home to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. A number of Wall Street firms call New York home, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Morgan Stanley, AIG, and Metlife. Just about every national financial services company at least keeps an office in New York, and thousands of smaller investment companies are based around the area as well.

But it’s not just about finance. Oh no. New York is also a media hub; and it’s as vital to the entertainment industry as Los Angeles. It’s the home of NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV, HBO, Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp (owner of FOX) and just about all of the major book publishing companies. Then you’ve got the big 4 major leagues located in NYC: NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA. On top of that you have 3 of the big 4 accounting firms, Coach, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Avon, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Pfizer, Weight Watchers, Barnes and Noble, Verizon, and Donald Trump’s main company. This just to name a few.

On top of the name brand firms listed above, there are plenty of other companies that are huge that you’ve probably never heard of. Additionally, many international companies maintain offices in the city, and biotechnology is taking off as an emerging industry.

This is only scratching the surface of an economy that is perhaps the most powerful in all the world. It should be quite obvious why this state is called the Capital State; more money flows in an out of here than any other state in the country.

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Weakonomics Tour Of The Country: Virginia

The Weakonomist — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:30:53 +0000

AKA The “Hidden Gem” State

Welcome to the commonwealth of Virginia, it’s called a commonwealth instead of a state because Virginians think that makes them special. Don’t be fooled, Virginia is a state.

Virginia benefits from being a diverse state, geographically. You’ve got a coastal area, central piedmont, and mountains. Much like many southern states Virginia got its start in agriculture and this remains an important part of the economy today. I can personally vouch for cows and dairy, as I saw dozens of such farms along the interstate during a recent Thanksgiving jaunt. Though not as popular as California, wineries are starting to pop up all over the state. In addition to the cattle already mentioned, tomatoes, peanuts, and tobacco are the big cash crops.

The capital of Virginia is Richmond, a proud tobacco town that has managed to snag themselves one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks, and a handful of Fortune 500 companies. With the exception of CarMax, you probably haven’t heard of them because they aren’t big consumer brands. Nevertheless, they make good money for the state.

Finding your way to the beaches of Virginia usually means one thing, Virginia Beach. The entire Chesapeake region plays host to tourism, shipping, and farming. Though insignificant on a GDP scale, it should be noted that Virginia Beach is a hotspot for hip-hop music.

As you travel elsewhere around the state, you’ll find more of the same. More Fortune 500 companies, more farms, and many satellite offices of other large corporations. Another big employer around the state is the many fine universities that can be found. Virginia Commonwealth University (not to be confused with Virginia State) is based in Richmond and employs more than 20,000 people. Elsewhere you can find Virginia Tech, well known for football and outstanding academics. In Charlottesville and Williamsburg you’ll find the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary, respectively. Both of these institutions are among the 8 original “public ivies” and Virginia is the only state with more than one. There is no shortage of smart alumni coming out of Virginia, and amazingly, these are all public schools.

But why are they the “hidden gem” state? What is hidden in Virginia that makes their economy so special? Why is their unemployment rate so low compared to other southern states? Two words: “The District.” We learned in our tour of Maryland that their economy suckles on the power teet of Washington DC. Well DC is bordered by two states, Maryland and Virginia.

It would almost be easier to list the government agencies that aren’t based in Maryland, but I’ll just cherry-pick the one’s you’ve heard of. To start with, the Pentagon is in Virginia. Virginia is on par with California in terms of Department of Defense spending, and no other states are higher ($30 billion way back in 2001).

Aside from the military of the free world being headquartered in the state, Virginia also calls home to the US Marshals Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, TSA, FDIC, CIA, US Geological Survey, Patent Office, the Immigration & Naturalization Service, to name a few. In addition to government jobs, government contractors also little the DC metropolitan area, eager to get stimulus money and any other government funds they can,.

All told Virginia has a powerful and diverse economy that most of us would be surprised to learn about. The proximity to the nation’s capital is obviously a big helped there. But they are also friendly to business, and in 2007 Forbes and CNBC pointed out how business friendly they were. Hidden gems and all, the commonwealth has one of the strongest economies in the country.

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Weakonomics Tour Of The Country: New Hampshire

The Weakonomist — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:25:20 +0000

AKA The “Primary” State

New Hampshire is most well know for its…. Ummmm….. hmm. New Hampshire is the most important…. Ummm….. Can someone help me start this?

Oh yeah, New Hampshire is most well known for being that state that becomes important (to the media) once every four years when presidential candidates come to town to pretend this state is politically significant for a month for presidential primaries. New Hampshire should actually be proud of this the same way Delaware should be proud of their interesting tax laws which incent corporations to locate there. If you don’t have a bunch of land or large population to support an economy, create inventive methods to bring money to the state. Primaries bring millions of dollars in revenue to New Hampshire with every election, so more power to em.

But New Hampshire has other means of getting people to come to the state. It’s beautiful. In the fall the entire state practically turns yellow and orange. Scenic drives through the mountains and hiking trails are popular destinations for New-Englanders looking to escape the city. In the winter there is plenty of skiing to be had and the spring and summer months are cooler than most other areas of the country and attract more tourists getting out of the heat. Tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry in New Hampshire. If you like being outside, whether it be at a lake, in the woods, or on the slopes, New Hampshire has it for you.

Not to worry about New Hampshire, they’ve got more than just pretty oaks to look at. New Hampshire, like much of the Northeast, has a manufacturing sector that produces many of the things that make everyday life possible. Such examples are electric equipment, rubber, and plastic products. Like most states, they initially lost many of these positions to cheaper labor in the south, and eventually cheaper labor overseas.

The US is a big place, and even though New Hampshire is small in size they still have plenty of space for agriculture. Thanks to animal products such as dairy, cattle, and eggs and produce like apples, the primary state has a farming base that should endure for the foreseeable future.

But you can’t rely on tourism, dwindling manufacturing, and farming to support and economy. New Hampshire has you covered again. Financial services, private health care, and law firms also make significant contributions to the local economy. Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution, ensures that some of our nation’s most prominent politicians, business leaders, engineers, and physicians all have ties back to New Hampshire.

New Hampshire is fortunate to not be as sensitive to the global economy as other states. With unemployment well below the national average (currently 6.9% vs 9.6%) the local governments can continue to make more reliable budget decisions based on expected tax revenue. On that note, it should be pointed out that New Hampshire has no sales tax and no income tax. Instead, residents pay one of the highest property taxes in the country. The fact that state legislatures have resisted the temptation to tax the sales on tourism shows an astounding amount of fiscal constraint.

In summary, New Hampshire is not a very well known state to most of the US. If you asked someone to name all the states and they left off 10, New Hampshire would probably be one of them. But not being well known has as many pros as it has cons. They aren’t in the news for awful layoffs, there are no scandals of financial ruin, it’s just a bunch of people that have “Live Free Or Die” on their license plates enjoying the beautiful outdoors. And with one of the highest per capita income levels and low energy usage New Hampshire may be one of America’s best kept secrets.

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