That giant sucking sound: it’s coming from Washington

Twenty years ago Ross Perot claimed that the North America Free Trade Agreement would create a “giant sucking sound.” Unfortunately, there is a “giant sucking sound” these days and it is not coming from foreign nations, but from Washington, DC.

Joel Kotkin has an excellent blog posting detailing the statistical realities of this:

The DC area last year grew faster in population than any major region in the country, up a remarkable 2.7 percent;
Since 2007, notes Stephen Fuller at George Mason University, the D.C. region’s economy has expanded 14 percent compared to a mere 3 percent for the rest of the country;
Washington’s unemployment never scaled over 7 percent, well below the national average, and is now down to around 5.5 percent;
Over the past decade 50,000 bureaucratic jobs have been added in the area while local federal spending grew 166 percent;
Nine of the top 15 counties in terms of income are located in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs around the capital Yes, Los Alamos is one of these). These counties all enjoy median house incomes over $100,000, twice the national average.

Of course, a pro-government leftist, unfamiliar with economics, would likely say: “this is great, look at all the wealth Washington is creating!” When, in reality, Washington’s track record in destroying wealth is unparalleled in human history.

Of course, our own Los Alamos County has high incomes, also from massive federal spending, but I’d like to think that while Washington cuts back there, its overall size and scope can be reduced, thus helping our nation’s and state’s economies at the same time. A fella can dream, right?