Wait a Second — We Are the Worst!

Yesterday’s post about 2015 personal-income growth in New Mexico noted that the Land of Enchantment posted the second-worst result in our region, and fell below the national figure.

But unpacking the data, as the Albuquerque Free Press did, exposes an even scarier reality: Nearly half of New Mexico’s income growth came from government programs.

The Free Press didn’t examine our neighbors, so the Foundation took a look. Predictably, New Mexico’s income from “transfer receipts” landed at the top, and was more than double the share for the nation as a whole.

The governor’s profoundly unwise expansion of Medicaid surely played a role in this disturbing finding. And a judge’s recent ruling that that work/training/volunteer requirements cannot be imposed on able-bodied recipients of food stamps won’t help things in 2016.

Question for our friends on the left: Still think “public investment” is the source of prosperity?