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Grover, Grover, Grover
Grover and Jon's graphs look at Colorado's growth and gdp per capita rates relative to the nation as a whole. But they don't convey that those growth rates were actually a bit lower over the same period compared to its neighboring Rocky Mountain states. Much more importantly, if you look at the period from 2000 to 2005, which covers the 2001 recession, when TABOR put the state government in the painful vise described in my earlier post, Colorado's gdp per capita growth rate was fourth lowest in the country. See this table.
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I really don't want to acknowledge that Grover is naked. Ewww. Unpleasant thought.
September 20, 2007 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that just tears it, don't it.
Greg? You rock.
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September 20, 2007 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I live in Colorado and I don't need any chart to know that growth is at the top end and non-existant in the upper-middle class on down.
I currently have five jobs (with two college degrees; ain't that great in America today?) to help pay for basic health insurance, house payments, two cars and two kids in college. My dad had one job and did twice as much for me as I can do for my kids. I'm lucky enough, though; some of my colleagues are one bit of bad luck from being destitute.
Meanwhile, more ego monument homes are being built over the next ridge for $2-3 Million. The middle class is falling apart with the infrastructure. California Junior, huh?
September 20, 2007 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Surely you don't think that Grover would EVER misrepresent the facts? Unheard of! We need an immediate Senate vote condemning anyone questioning Grover's veracity. And after that party and celebration we'll drown Grover in a bathtub, just like the hollowed out and privatized federal government he's so proud to have destroyed.
September 21, 2007 5:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is the problem with Conservative intellectual bankruptcy--it's just a self-serving story for their wealthy patrons, with no connection to reality. This is why, when you implement their policies, they don't work as advertised.
For God's sake, I used Grover's favorite stat to prove that gay marriage caused more economic growth than TABOR did. So, I'm sorry, if Grover wants to make the argument that lowering taxes on the wealthy and starving investment causes growth, he also has to argue that gay marriage causes even MORE growth.
What Grover's pushing aren't economic theories. They're sales tactics.
September 21, 2007 5:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Note to Grover:
This is the part of blogging where you reply to people.
I know you're new at this.
"Thank God George Bush is our president." -Rudy Giuliani
September 21, 2007 7:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Grover's bestest buds, the fundy "social conservatives" wouldn't like you doing that theorajones.
I'd like to hear wht Grover has to say about our nation's crumbling infrastructure as defined by the nation's engineers and how starving government doesn't contribute to that problem. And if he were in Roosevelt's place, would he have instituted any New Deal programs or let the country slide into feudalism?
September 21, 2007 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
We could be charitable to Grover, but he certainly wouldn't want that. So, let's instead take a market based approach towards his contribution.
In the market of information, Grover was just caught hawking virtual snake oil. So the value of his product seems rather low. Perhaps even negative, requiring compensation. Ironically for Grover, he's lucky this isn't the Wild West.
What will Grover do next? If this were a futures market, it seems his options would include:
1) Run with his tail between his legs to avoid Anrig's mighty rolled newspaper of doom
2) Attempt to salvage his earlier argument with copious slogans propping up muddled arguments.
3) Pretend he didn't notice the legs falling off his hobbyhorse and quickly change the subject, again towards copious sloganeering and muddled arguments.
September 21, 2007 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now now. No need to pour fuel on his raging Napoleon complex.
btw, from the looks of grover clothed and bearded, naked he must look like a shaved cat half drowned in a bathtub.
September 21, 2007 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
#3 is his modus
September 21, 2007 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Grover, in his piece, talks about Gross State Product while your chart is labeled Gross Domestic Product by State. Are these the same things or are we talking about entirely different data sources?
I would also point out that according to Grover's own charts, Colorado's income and employment growth was above the national average BEFORE the TABOR thing was passed. In 1999, it does seem to go up even more, but this corresponds to the period when the dotcom bubble really started to take off. In fact, the national average takes exactly the same upturn at the same time and if you just ignore that little bubble in the middle, the growth is a straight line progression from what it was before TABOR, which tracks with the employment chart that shows a clear straight line progression of employment growth above the national average BEFORE the TABOR thing was enacted in 1997 and it merely continues the same trend after that.
He doesn't show a chart or mention statistics prior to 1997 but I'm betting you find the same thing is true of Gross State Product.
The real trouble with these arguments is that there are so many variables that go into economic growth, it's impossible to say whether any particular policy has a positive or negative effect.
September 21, 2007 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink