What do people think is wrong with the New Mexico economy? (Albuquerque: high school, college)
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Originally Posted by “Albuquerque is one of the few, [B
maybe one of the only[/b], big metros to be in the midst of a double-dip recession,” said Brookings Research Analyst Kenan Fikri.
Kudos to NM'icans for not waiting with bated breath while those guys throw out their lofty pronouncements. The sun-starved analyst writing that report is likely working 60 hrs/week in a depressing office environment, wishing he could be retired and living in the southwest. Besides, growth is overrated. If you want phenomenal growth then move to China. "Enjoy!"
Interesting viewpoint that "Right To Work" law is key to NM economic recovery. All right to work does is prevent Unions from forcing workers from paying Union dues. I think people should be free to choose if they want to pay union dues or not (aka right to work).
Here is what a site selector interviewed for the Tesla Giga Factory said about how important Right To Work is in where they choose to locate the facility: “I can’t underscore how critical right to work status is.”
Paul Gessing and his organization have a clear political agenda. As the byline of that article states: "The Rio Grande Foundation is ... dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility." So, they're a conservative economic group; no surprise that they're opposed to laws that help unions.
If you really want to look at so-called right-to-work laws and whether they help a state's economy, look at empirical studies. To very briefly summarize, the data are mixed. But it looks like these laws both increase the number of jobs in a state and lower wages. Basically, you get more economic activity in a state, but the money from that activity goes to business owners and not to workers. Whether more jobs but lower wages is worth the change in laws is a case-by-case call.
p.s. -- the guy quoted regarding the selection for Tesla's factory is not involved in the actual site selection; he is a site-selection consultant who was commenting on his own analysis of the situation.
Last edited by smashystyle; 08-02-2014 at 04:59 PM..
Reason: add information
Paul Gessing and his organization have a clear political agenda. As the byline of that article states: "The Rio Grande Foundation is ... dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility." So, they're a conservative economic group; no surprise that they're opposed to laws that help unions.
If you really want to look at so-called right-to-work laws and whether they help a state's economy, look at empirical studies. To very briefly summarize, the data are mixed. But it looks like these laws both increase the number of jobs in a state and lower wages. Basically, you get more economic activity in a state, but the money from that activity goes to business owners and not to workers. Whether more jobs but lower wages is worth the change in laws is a case-by-case call.
p.s. -- the guy quoted regarding the selection for Tesla's factory is not involved in the actual site selection; he is a site-selection consultant who was commenting on his own analysis of the situation.
The "Washington Compost" is clearly not an unbiased source. Please..
Albuquerque is not the first city to have its economic foundations shaken by a changing economy. Some cities were never able to adapt to change. Others, however, recreated themselves by imagining new ideas and generating new energy to make them happen.
I lived thru this first-hand in my 15+ years of living in Dallas. First the metro almost died because of the S&L collapse. Then it was the commercial real estate & insurance collapse. Followed by the dot.com bust and telecom bust (that one almost decimated the city of Richardson). The Dallas area finally learned not to rely heavily on any one industry, and in the past 13 years that I've been gone, the industry base has expanded considerably and is quite varied now. Currently, if one industry goes bust, it will hurt, but the other areas can absorb part of the employee base and the metro is poised to attract more business. It took a lot of soul searching (if a metro can have a soul, LOL) and a lot of change for Dallas to get where it is now. ABQ can do the same, but the first thing they have to do is dump the aversion to change.
Another city that has successfully reinvented itself is Pittsburgh. ABQ would do well to study formerly failing-now thriving metros and see what can be incorporated here.
I lived thru the same era in Houston then Dallas. What i see here is stagnation. We have no industry. the largest non-governmental employer in this state is Albertson's. What does that tell you. we need to be a right to work state to start with. Then do something about the lack of educated work force. I was shocked when I moved here to learn how many folks had not graduated high school.
I was shocked when I moved here to learn how many folks had not graduated high school.
Census Bureau 2013 ACS 3-year estimates:
25 years and older educational attainment, percent high school graduate or equivalent.
Albuquerque Metro 87.5%
Dallas Metro 84.1%
Houston Metro 81.4%
You may be referring to the graduation rate. It seems dropouts either get their GED or move elsewhere, or there are enough educated people moving in to offset it.
I lived thru the same era in Houston then Dallas. What i see here is stagnation. We have no industry. the largest non-governmental employer in this state is Albertson's. What does that tell you. we need to be a right to work state to start with. Then do something about the lack of educated work force. I was shocked when I moved here to learn how many folks had not graduated high school.
"What i see here" assume you mean Here, New Mexico
"the largest non-governmental employer in this state is Albertson's." Looks like Albertson's is number 86, but you have to pull the "non-governmental employer"'s:
I have highlighted the non-government (non federal, state, city employers)
I tried to ignore defense contractors...
I could be wrong, I would expect a reference which you used to claim the "Albertson's" comment... Albertsons LLC is an American grocery company has more than 2,400 stores. I could not find which states, but they are not just in New Mexico. Albertsons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quote:
Largest Employers in New Mexico (with 150 or more FTEs)
As of 1/11/11 (Arrayed in descending order by number of employees)
Various Sources (i.e., AED, NMBW Book of Lists, NM Department of Labor, etc.)
My guess is the educational attainment stat is likely very misleading. May want to research the fine print on that one. Look at high school and college graduation rates for NM. Look at test scores for NM vs. other states.
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The sun-starved analyst writing that report is likely working 60 hrs/week in a depressing office environment, wishing he could be retired and living in the southwest. Besides, growth is overrated. If you want phenomenal growth then move to China. "Enjoy!"
Dallas
