The Last Public Policy Taboo, Part 3

The Zombie Economy

I’ve never quite understood the appeal of the zombie as entertainment.  [I did like Shaun of the Dead, though].

In Hollywood, vampires are out.  The zombie is in.  For my taste, I prefer the classic movie monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, etc.  They may have sloughed off the mortal coil, but can still summon a display of superhuman strength when the plot calls for it.

Zombies merely shuffle along, in that halting gait, with little more than a vague purpose.  They are devoid of the anima that makes your classic monster so scary.

In the first two parts of this series [Part 1 and Part 2], I develop the hypothesis that populations in Minnesota and the Twin Cities’ region are in the process of declining, rather than poised for the boom that everyone expects to occur over the next few decades.

I’ve wondered why demography is such a taboo subject in today’s politics.  To talk about demographics is to hint that today’s economy—if not the larger society—shuffles along like the original Hollywood zombie:  ambulatory, but without that fighting spirit.  Outside of a handful of locations like Williston, North Dakota, it is becoming tougher to find a sense of urgency out there.

I’ve been bothered lately by two statistics: (1) that a record 91.8 million Americans are not in the labor force, and (2) that Minnesota’s labor force peaked in February 2013, and has not recovered since.  That is a lot of talent on the bench at a time when so much needs to be done.
What can be we do to turn this around?

The fastest growing states—North Dakota and Texas—have two things in common:  a booming oil sector and a tendency to vote for Republican candidates.  The other top growing states include Republican-leaning Utah (#3), South Dakota (#6), and Arizona, Alaska, and Wyoming (#8-10).  Swing states Colorado (#4) and Florida (#5) also appear on the list.  The only true-blue Democrat state to make the top 10 is no-income-tax Washington state (#7).

Sliced another way, there are seven states that impose no income tax on their citizens.  All seven feature in the top eleven fastest-growing states and run the gamut, politically, from Red (Texas), to Purple (Florida) to Blue (Washington).

The bottom ten, least-growing states consist exclusively of New England and Midwestern Rust Belt states that usually vote for Democrats, plus West Virginia.

Minnesota ranks No. 27, below both the national average and the national median in population growth.

Of the ten fastest-growing cities,  six are located in states that reliably vote for Republicans (Texas, Arizona, and Utah).  The other four cities are located in the swing states of Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina.

Of the ten slowest-growing cities--Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Providence, Rochester NY, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Chicago, and New York—all are located in regions that reliably vote for Democrats.

Despite the fact that Republican-voting areas are growing faster than areas that vote for Democrats, we are told that America has begun an era of the permanent Democrat majority.

When looking at demography, we are told that the groups that identify with Democrats are on the rise.  When looking at geography, we are told that areas that identify with Republicans are on the rise.  In the battle between demography and geography, I’m not sure which will win.

Minnesotans should be concerned that our state lags the nation in new business creation and our maternity wards are advertising for customers (really, I heard an ad on the radio yesterday).  What I did learn from zombie movies is this lesson:  you have two choices, either fight the zombies, or become one of them.