[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Mr. Smith goes to the NARN (part 2)

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Mr. Smith goes to the NARN (part 2)
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1208837531.shtml


   Previously: [1]1
   Continuing my analysis of Dane Smith's appearance on the North
   Alliance Radio Network, we resume after Smith claimed that our state
   government became smaller thanks to the Ventura income tax cuts and
   rebates. Again, this is my personal transcript, edited for clarity.

     Mitch Berg: [It's] been eight fairly good years here in Minnesota
     since [the Ventura tax cuts and rebates]. Unemployment was
     extremely low. We led the nation in employment, and by most metrics
     that matter to the average Minnesotan's pocketbook the past eight
     years. It's not been a bad experiment. What say Growth & Justice?
     Dane Smith: Well, I disagree with you that it's not been a bad
     experience. There have been a lot of people, especially in the
     lower half of the economy who have lost everything from fairly
     generous support for their autistic children. The schools are more
     crowded. They're in more of these containerized classrooms. We all
     choose the economists whose numbers we like to look at, but this
     last recovery compared to the recovery of 90's and the 80's was one
     of the weakest ever for median income. So for the middle, this last
     decade was the weakest of several big decade long recoveries or
     more than half decade recoveries. It is true that the stock market
     did pretty well in this recovery, and for people in maybe the top
     quintile, 20 percent, it was pretty good. But more important, right
     now in the last year or two, Minnesota's economy is underperforming
     the national economy for the first time in a long time. And that's
     been widely accepted. [Thomas] Stinson, State Economist and others
     are worried about it.

   While I'm sure we have great sympathy for the victims of autism, this
   is anecdotal. And what does he mean by "containerized" classrooms?
   Granted, I'm not a world class surfer, but Google couldn't help me and
   the Growth & Justice site apparently has no search feature.
   By "crowded" schools I assume he's referring to class sizes, as there
   is currently a glut of class rooms throughout the state. But I could
   point to several articles on the Web to show that class sizes aren't
   consistently calculated, a function of many factors, and not always
   indicative of actual results. A great teacher with 36 students will
   usually out-perform two mediocre teachers with 18 apiece.
   The fact that the Minnesota economy is now trailing the national
   average should be of concern to all of us. But as Smith observed in
   part 1, "there's not easy cause and effect on this stuff." As I
   observed in part 1, state government is growing, not shrinking. Maybe
   that's the problem.
   Total state spending has tripled in just the last 20 years. I dare say
   that few of us are making three times the money of 20 years ago. An
   even fairer question is would you get three times the money for the
   same job you had 20 years ago? Doubtful. Real doubtful. Businesses
   know what's happening and see still more government growth on the
   Legislative horizon.
   All in all, this is a rather weak opening toward justifying growing
   government still further.

     Mitch Berg: Growth & Justice says that we can turn this apparent
     slippage in Minnesota by charging more taxes. How does that work?
     Dane Smith: We had the one the strongest economies [in the nation],
     arguably the strongest in the midwest. We're definitely not in the
     sun belt, but among the midwestern states, Minnesota was always the
     highest taxing, highest spending, and highest achieing economy
     throught the 70's, 80's, and 90's. [...] There is a consensus.
     Former Governors, State Economist Tom Stinson, Federal Reserve Vice
     President Art Rolnick [all say] that this was largely due to
     investment in education. [We] really put a lot of money [into this]
     in this state. You can argue that the culture already valued
     education, which is fair enough, but nevertheless we did invest in
     it. And we think it paid off. The test scores, we're always number
     one, well of course so is Wisconsin and Iowa.
     Mitch Berg: North Dakota has frequently beat [Minnesota ...] and
     North Dakota spends a fraction of what Minnesota spends per pupil
     on education.
     Dane Smith: And North Dakota doesn't have nearly the cost of
     living, doesn't have a metro economy, doesn't have a high cost,
     high octane economy like you have in the Twin Cities.

   Wait a minute, Dane. Which way is it? Does educational success lead to
   a vibrant economy or not? At a minimum, we should expect a mass exodus
   from Fargo to Moorhead, but it is Fargo that is thriving. Moorhead is
   a comparative ghost town. How can this be given Growth & Justice's
   fundamental premise?
   We'll continue on education in part 3.

References

   1. http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1208752953.shtml