Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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6 UCW FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2023 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM North Carolina faces many chal- lenges. You and I may disagree with how to rank those challenges, or what to do about them, but we share a belief that our state could be a better place than it is today. is reformist impulse is proper and useful. But we shouldn't let it make us unduly and unrealistically dour. Few states can match what North Carolina already has to offer — which is why few states match or exceed our growth rate. e latest population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, for example, show that North Carolina's population grew by some 133,000 last year, to 10.7 million residents. Only Texas (471,000) and Florida (417,000) increased more in population during the period. In terms of annual growth rate, North Carolina ranked 9th at 1.3%, with Florida (1.9%) topping the list. America's fastest-growing states are primarily in the Southeast and Mountain West. at's been true for some time now. Similarly, the places with the largest drops in population last year were also rather predict- able. ere were six-figure popula- tion declines in New York, California and Illinois. In percentage terms, the fastest-declining states were New York, Illinois and Louisiana. As for gross domestic product, North Carolina's economy has since the beginning of 2020 posted a com- pound annual growth rate of 2.8%, ad- justed for inflation. at's significantly higher than the national (1.6%) and regional (2.1%) averages. Idaho (4.2%) ranked first in this category. Our state ranked 8th. Which states are slackers in eco- nomic growth? Well, Louisiana's GDP actually shrank by an average an- nual rate of 3%. Other places with net negative growth since January 2020 included Alaska, Wyoming, North Da- kota, Oklahoma, Hawaii, New Mexico, West Virginia and Maryland. As should come as no surprise to no one, I believe that the past decade of free-market reforms and fiscally conservative policies made North Carolina a more attractive place to live, work, invest and create new jobs. We went from having one of the worst- designed tax systems in the country to one of the best. Under laws already enacted by the General Assem- bly, our tax rate on personal income will decline to 3.99% by 2027. Our corporate tax will disappear entirely by 2029. I also credit infrastructure improve- ments and a series of regulatory- reform measures for improving North Carolina's business climate. A Canadian think tank, the Fraser Institute, provides a handy way to track these changes over time. In the most recent iteration of its Economic Freedom of North America index, North Carolina ranked 9th. at repre- sents a marked improvement from its 2010 rank of 19th. It is important to keep in mind, however, that government is not the primary driver of economic decisions — whether for good or for ill. All other things being equal, states with smaller, less-intrusive, and more-effective governments tend to grow faster than average. at's the finding of most (though not all) academic stud- ies published over the past several decades. Where the rubber meets the road, however, all other things are never equal. States differ significantly in geography, natural resources, popula- tion density and economic structure. Many factors that determine growth over time can only be modestly influ- enced by public policy, if at all. Look again at that list of states with shrinking economies. While some of them are "blue" states with rela- tively high tax and regulatory burdens, others such as Wyoming and North Dakota don't fit that description. North Carolina's economic port- folio is diverse — and becoming more so over time. Is there room for improvement? Sure. But we already have a lot to be thankful for. OPINION North Carolina economy continues to excel by JOHN HOOD print love ship love We can pack a hug for you to ship to loved ones far away! HOPE MILLS LOCATION NOW OPEN 3333 N. MAIN ST, NEAR DMV & POST OFFICE JOHN HOOD, Board Member, John Locke Foundation. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200 Breakfast Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 8:20 a.m. Fayetteville Area Operation Inasmuch 531 Hillsboro Street Lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Manna Dream Center 913 Person Street Dinner Monday Through Sunday, 5 to 5:30 p.m. The Salvation Army of the Sandhills Pathways of Hope Emergency Shelter and Food Services 245 Alexander Street Fre e P u b l i c Me a l s S e r v e d i n Fa ye t t e v i l l e , N C