Kansas: an economic disaster area (Overland Park, Kansas City: sales, new home, unemployed)

[luzianne]

Yes, it is very different. Kansas has a low percentage of people on the dole, very unlike Missouri. Kansas has very low unemployment. Missouri has a lot of unemployed receiving taxpayer assistance. And if you go down in the ghetto in KC, there are people there waiting on the corner to sign you up for food stamps, subsidized housing, a free cell phone and anything else they can. But it's not just Kansas City, it's rampant in Missouri. You are right - it is very different than Kansas.

I am very aware of the hospitals in Kansas City. As I said, I work in healthcare.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by luzianne

Yes, it is very different. Kansas has a low percentage of people on the dole, very unlike Missouri. Kansas has very low unemployment. Missouri has a lot of unemployed receiving taxpayer assistance. And if you go down in the ghetto in KC, there are people there waiting on the corner to sign you up for food stamps, subsidized housing, a free cell phone and anything else they can. But it's not just Kansas City, it's rampant in Missouri. You are right - it is very different than Kansas.

I am very aware of the hospitals in Kansas City. As I said, I work in healthcare.

kcmo is right. All you know how to do is compare spit-polished 15 year-old neighborhoods in Overland Park to dilapidated ghettos on KCMO's east side. OBVIOUSLY Missouri has more people on public assistance. Missouri has more urbanized areas, and altogether more people. You'll get the same thing comparing Wyoming to Colorado, or New Hampshire to Massachusetts. If you want to show per capita numbers -- actual statistics -- to prove that Kansas' economy is better for its citizens than Missouri, be my guest. But sometimes saying that a state has more people on government assistance actually means that that state is taking better care of its people, not worse.

Or maybe you're just going to stay the course, and kcmo and I should resign ourselves to constantly comparing Quindaro in KCK to Lee's Summit in Missouri. Turnabout is fair play, after all.

[luzianne]

I'm not comparing Johnson County to KCMO. The statistics do show that Kansas economy is doing better than Missouri's. If having a lot of people on welfare and not working means your economy is good, then Missouri wins.

Last I read, Kansas had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 4.9%, while Missouri is above the national rate at something like 6.5%.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by luzianne

I'm not comparing Johnson County to KCMO. The statistics do show that Kansas economy is doing better than Missouri's. If having a lot of people on welfare and not working means your economy is good, then Missouri wins.

Last I read, Kansas had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 4.9%, while Missouri is above the national rate at something like 6.5%.

If you're going to go to the trouble to actually quote statistics, you might as well get them right. You could have even done Kansas a favor, because by all accounts, the most recent unemployment numbers show Kansas at 4.3% (tied for 10th best), and Missouri at 5.6% (tied for 21st). Both are better than the national average of 5.8%.

It's important to note that ALL of the states in the top 15 for employment either a) have a predominantly rural population, or b) are new money states (like Colorado and Minnesota). Missouri is neither of those, since it was already a heavy-hitter at the turn of the 20th century. It's not an old-money state like Massachusetts or New York, but it's definitely not new money either.

In other words, any time you compare a predominantly rural, non-south state like Kansas, to a relatively older money state like Missouri, the results will be the same.

But unemployment numbers are really neither here nor there, since Brownback's blunders have not matured enough to impact jobs yet in the state. The current problem is the drastic cuts in state services and public schools. If that's not corrected quickly, then you'll start to see companies moving out. That's when the employment stats will start to tank.

Keep in mind, I don't have anything against Kansas, and I most certainly do hope that things improve. But if that's going to happen, Job 1 is to recall Governor Brownback.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by luzianne

I'm not comparing Johnson County to KCMO. The statistics do show that Kansas economy is doing better than Missouri's. If having a lot of people on welfare and not working means your economy is good, then Missouri wins.

Last I read, Kansas had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at 4.9%, while Missouri is above the national rate at something like 6.5%.

Oh, and you DO compare Johnson County to KCMO proper. ALL THE TIME. Please don't make me quote you in order to prove it.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

If you're going to go to the trouble to actually quote statistics, you might as well get them right. You could have even done Kansas a favor, because by all accounts, the most recent unemployment numbers show Kansas at 4.3% (tied for 10th best), and Missouri at 5.6% (tied for 21st). Both are better than the national average of 5.8%.

It's important to note that ALL of the states in the top 15 for employment either a) have a predominantly rural population, or b) are new money states (like Colorado and Minnesota). Missouri is neither of those, since it was already a heavy-hitter at the turn of the 20th century. It's not an old-money state like Massachusetts or New York, but it's definitely not new money either.

In other words, any time you compare a predominantly rural, non-south state like Kansas, to a relatively older money state like Missouri, the results will be the same.

But unemployment numbers are really neither here nor there, since Brownback's blunders have not matured enough to impact jobs yet in the state. The current problem is the drastic cuts in state services and public schools. If that's not corrected quickly, then you'll start to see companies moving out. That's when the employment stats will start to tank.

Keep in mind, I don't have anything against Kansas, and I most certainly do hope that things improve. But if that's going to happen, Job 1 is to recall Governor Brownback.

My unemployment numbers were correct. I just checked it. I said the last numbers I saw - and that was July. At that time Missouri was 6.5%, above the national average. Still, Kansas unemployment is much lower than Missouri's. And the number of people on food stamps in Missouri is appalling. And no I am not talking about KCMO, I am talking about all of Missouri.

Kansas will be fine. As I said before, most of the doomsday talk about Kansas economic is POLITICAL.

[Parkerlewis33]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

If you're going to go to the trouble to actually quote statistics, you might as well get them right. You could have even done Kansas a favor, because by all accounts, the most recent unemployment numbers show Kansas at 4.3% (tied for 10th best), and Missouri at 5.6% (tied for 21st). Both are better than the national average of 5.8%.

It's important to note that ALL of the states in the top 15 for employment either a) have a predominantly rural population, or b) are new money states (like Colorado and Minnesota). Missouri is neither of those, since it was already a heavy-hitter at the turn of the 20th century. It's not an old-money state like Massachusetts or New York, but it's definitely not new money either.

In other words, any time you compare a predominantly rural, non-south state like Kansas, to a relatively older money state like Missouri, the results will be the same.

But unemployment numbers are really neither here nor there, since Brownback's blunders have not matured enough to impact jobs yet in the state. The current problem is the drastic cuts in state services and public schools. If that's not corrected quickly, then you'll start to see companies moving out. That's when the employment stats will start to tank.

Keep in mind, I don't have anything against Kansas, and I most certainly do hope that things improve. But if that's going to happen, Job 1 is to recall Governor Brownback.

I'm a conservative and if I had still lived in Kansas, I would have had difficulty voting for Brownback. I disagree with the ability of the tax policy to work and I disagree with him leading the charge of tearing KC apart. I'm afraid he is going to double down on his policies. In theory they are similar to what Texas has done, but that theory does not transfer to a state like Kansas that has no substantial urban center to grow from. JoCo and Wichita do not qualify. Additionally, the economy is not diversified like Texas and doesn't have any where near the energy revenue. With that said, I believe Brownback might have bought into the hype that the Mississippian Lime play was going to be an economic driver similar to some of the shale plays as several major operators believed. It's so bad that free money can't make it work. Sand Ridge has bankrupted themselves trying. Still, no excuse to push such an extreme tax policy. I also put blame on the state legislature... both sides of the isle. On a side note, Obama's cousin should have been on the senatorial ticket. Two bad choices Kansas.

Colorado is about to fall down the unemployment list. The Energy boom has been our biggest economic driver and things are already starting to get ugly. Oil companies don't like to admit it, but I know the break even price here in the Denver Basin is $75-$80 with debt service. There will soon be huge cut backs on jobs and salaries. Young kids that previously had 60 hr weeks at $15/hr are making $100,000 annually. Those days are done and rightfully so. The length of the downturn will determine the real estate impact.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by luzianne

My unemployment numbers were correct. I just checked it. I said the last numbers I saw - and that was July. At that time Missouri was 6.5%, above the national average. Still, Kansas unemployment is much lower than Missouri's. And the number of people on food stamps in Missouri is appalling. And no I am not talking about KCMO, I am talking about all of Missouri.

Kansas will be fine. As I said before, most of the doomsday talk about Kansas economic is POLITICAL.

As for SNAP (food stamps), Kansas has 10% on it, Missouri has 16% on it (in 2011). But really, is that what breaks states? Highly unlikely.

Source: • Percentage of U.S. state population receiving SNAP benefits (Food Stamps) 2011 | Statistic

And this shows MO unemployment at 5.6%, KS at 4.1% for November 2014.
State Unemployment Rates | November 2014

But Kansas doesn't have any large urban, low income areas. Somewhat in Wichita and Topeka, but nothing compared to KCMO and STL. So the numbers are logical.

Colorado beats KS in both cases. Even though CO's population is much closer to MO than KS.

I know disabled people in KS are extremely worried about what's going on. I don't think it makes KS look very attractive to people who could move there with all that's going on.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by luzianne

My unemployment numbers were correct. I just checked it. I said the last numbers I saw - and that was July. At that time Missouri was 6.5%, above the national average. Still, Kansas unemployment is much lower than Missouri's. And the number of people on food stamps in Missouri is appalling. And no I am not talking about KCMO, I am talking about all of Missouri.

Kansas will be fine. As I said before, most of the doomsday talk about Kansas economic is POLITICAL.

An outdated stat is an inaccurate stat. A lot has changed since July for both states. Here are the numbers from November 2014:

Unemployment Rates for States

But again, employment is not even what I'm talking about. I feel like I made that clear already, but if you want to hang onto obtuse arguments about that, and food stamps, then whatever.

[kcmo]

Do people outside of Johnson County know what the state is doing to prop up JoCo??? They are potentially the ones that get hurt the most.