Last week the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released data on state personal income — “the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal current transfer receipts” — in 2015.
For the U.S. as a whole, personal income grew 4.4 percent between 2014 and 2015. Not surprisingly, New Mexico, at 3.7 percent, lagged the national figure. Looking at our region, four of the Land of Enchantment’s five neighbors fared better. Only Oklahoma, at 2.3 percent, performed worse.
With budget deficits inducing calls for tax hikes at the state and local levels, incomes are under the gun, again, in New Mexico. Stay vigilant!
Especially these days with the massive expansion of a government entitlement program (Medicaid), personal income are not as great an indicator of economic success as they were. According to this article, half of NM’s personal income growth in 2015 came from government: http://www.freeabq.com/2016/03/24/new-mexico-income-government/
Can we question the veracity of assertions from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis?
Appears from the two charts that if New Mexico’s receipt of government largesse were cut in half (To Oklahoma’s level), they also would have exceeded our growth in PI.
And please refer to Medicaid “entitlements” in this case as “welfare”, which is what it is. Social Security, into which we pay, is an entitlement, which repays at approximately 50 cents on the investment dollar.
And yes, Mr. Berthelote, we can and should question the veracity of anyone’s assertions. Recall however from early education questioning and rebutting do not constitute refutation; that requires work of intellectual rigor.