Report: N.D. is best run state
November 28, 2012 at 11:05 pm in Grand Forks Herald
According to an extensive study by 24/7 Wall St., a respected financial news outlet, North Dakota is the best-run state in the nation. Continue Reading
Report: N.D. is best run state
44 Comments
It hardly seems to be a contest worth noting on most of these because the criteria measured is most likely always going to come out with low population states like ND that has an oil boom going on as being rated so high. States like Ca or many along the east coast with so many huge cities will always rank much lower because there’s just so much more to manage. So although this looks cute…It’s not really a big deal.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I would like to see a list of the states that should be the easiest to run. I would think with a population of 684,000 ND can’t be that difficult.
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Whenever something like this comes up the media seems to be partial to the oil boom. As a resident of this great state for most of my life, I have to say that our success is the result of wise financial institutions who don’t just lend money to anyone and who did not get themselves in a bind via subprime lending that many others in other states did. We also have wise business owners who seem to manage things quite well and stay aware of the things going on behind the scenes. And, let’s not forget the people themselves. The people of our great state have a record of managing their finances well. They make good investment choices, make attempts to save money, pay bills on time, pay bills period, don’t squander their money, and don’t flaunt their wealth or allow themselves to be overwhelmed by it. I have to say that it’s the people of our state who contribute to its success more than industries, maybe not financially, but with regard to quality.
The oil boom only brings in $$$$ but doesn’t do anything for the quality of our state. It doesn’t make people’s lives happier or easier as proven by the huge increases in the cost of housing and also the lack of housing, the significant increase in traffic, the increase in crime, etc.
Way to go PEOPLE of North Dakota for making our state such a great one.
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It’s folks like you who cry fowl with absurd environmental claims that I seriously believe have the goal of disrupting the economy so that you can say you won something. Shameful.
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Read the latest reports.
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Like this one?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/us-carbon-dioxide-emissions-2012_n_1792167.html
Fracking lowers the cost of natural gas. Electricity producers switch from burning coal to burning cleaner natural gas. And CO2 emissions drop to lowest levels in 10 years. While the increased supply of oil from the Bakken has not led to lower gas prices and has not increased demand. Your argument fails.
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What about it? The world’s output of CO2 is still rising & as the art. says we are exporting the coal to allow the rise in coal use. The world’s average mthly. temp has been increasing for 27 straight yrs., i.e. 27 times 12 or 294 straight mths.
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Spearman, one word, bull. It’s called clean coal for a reason. Of all issues, it may be the one that most reinforces what I wrote above.
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Let me put it this way: I don’t think our extraction of energy resources significantly affects worldwide price or demand. People are going to consume at the same levels no matter what we do.
That being said, I believe that here in ND we can extract those resources and deliver them to consumers (at least here in the northern hemisphere) more efficiently than our global competitors. I mean, if I go to Valley Dairy to fill my tank, the $/gal is the same whether that gasoline was extracted and refined within our state or across the globe. However, it requires less energy (and generates less emissions) if that extraction and refinement takes place closer to home. Because then we don’t waste as much bringing it to market.
I guess I’m saying that I don’t believe most consumers will modify their short-term behavior even when faced with long-term catastrophe; the best I hope for is to mitigate the damage, buy time, and hopefully develop technological solutions before massive die-offs begin.
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The EERC @UND is trying to make clean coal work. I hope they succeed. They are also trying to turn coal into hydrogen fuel. That would be big. You make a great point about using ND oil because it lowers the overall cost of transporting it. I understand realistically ND can’t avoid developing the Bakken. But ultimately it will be a part of the problem not a solution.
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What’s absurd is not paying attention to the cause and effect evidence world wide and buying into the notion that it’s only about wanting companies to pay more to do the right thing. Historically companies have been dragged hollering and screeming into every decison to clean up their mess. I remember the early 70′s hitchhiking around the country into huge smog filled cities. People forced companies to clean up their act so people could breath. Clean up their dumping practices so rivers wouldn’t catch fire, so fish wouldn’t be too full of poison to eat. Every time you buy into big business trying to claim foul about enviroment concerns…You’re going against yours and everyone you care about best interest.
Remember….Corporations will and have gone to great links to cut any costs that don’t increase revenue regardless of the danger factor. That’s why in some third world countries where American factories have set up they also find huge industrial mistakes that often hurt or kill several people. Like Dow Chemical in India that killed hundreds because the management didn’t put in the more expensive filtration system that should have prevented leakage that killed not only the immeadiate workers, but people in the surrounding residency….People went to bed that night and never woke up……That’s the kind of mind set you get from corporations when left to their own decision to do the right thing.
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I don’t know about the deeper pockets, but the first basin wasn’t the oit grade used to refine into fuel. That’s the oil that causes the most emmissions right? So I’m not sure you have a valid point. I believe global warming is something we’ve waited too long to get a handle on and the legacy we leave is the real horror story for future generations, but I don’t know if our oil patch is that big of a contribiture.
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And we’ll be more than happy if you do….
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Again like the Alerus center vote,if you don’t like the outcome keep redoing it until you get the result you want!
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Iha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Top five in order North dakota wyoming nebraska utah and iowa!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! What do these states have in common? Low population! It is easy to manage a state that does not have a lot to manage.
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Gf resident, that is one of the most rediculous posts I have ever read. This study is extremly biased towards low population and strong economies. Iowa nebraska and nd have strong agriculture which has buffered us from any true recession. On top of that nd has a huge oil boom! You can paint the picture with a bunch of false rah rah rah go team, but in the end it is just fluff.
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One of the reasons that North Dakota is doing well (and a few others), is that we are PRODUCING something.
We are extracting oil, growing crops, raising cattle and have some manufacturing plants here.
Some states do not PRODUCE, but consume. Look at Wall Street. They move paper around, but do they PRODUCE anything?
Food and oil are essential commodities. You cannot live without them.
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Robert said many posts back, “One of the reasons that North Dakota is doing well (and a few others), is that we are PRODUCING something”.
“We are extracting oil, growing crops, raising cattle and have some manufacturing plants here.”
“Some states do not PRODUCE, but consume. Look at Wall Street. They move paper around, but do they PRODUCE anything?”
“Food and oil are essential commodities. You cannot live without them.”
So Robert, I didn’t know Wall St. was a state. You’re saying Wall St. doesn’t produce anything so that means New York state doesn’t produce anything? That’s what you said. New York probably produces by far more dairy products than ND. What do you think all that farmland in upstate NY is for if not to supply NYC with food?
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You know, there is a “reply” button beneath each thread…
Just sayin’.
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Okay, everyone give me a thumbs down on this one, but the ND state government and the population of ND in general have really done a pretty good job of restraining themselves when it comes to spending the oil-boom money. Maybe it’s due the earlier boom bust cycle in had in the 70s and 80s or maybe it’s just our rural sensibility, but we do tend to put away money for a rainy day. In that, I think we can be proud.
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North Dakota’s economy is suspectible to the boom/bust of commodities.
If oil stays high, then oil is extracted, transported and sold. If not, then the wells are capped off waiting for higher prices.
Same with agriculture. When certain crops are in demand, that is what is planted. If drought happens, then the crop is not available. Even though the farmer may get a disaster payment, there are a host of other businesses suffer from a crop loss and/or low prices.
Same with ranching. When cattle prices are high, there is the tendency to build up cattle herds and invest in land, water and other infrastructure to raise cattle. When the cattle prices are low, it does not make economic sense to raise many cattle with expenses above revenue. Just keep a small herd until prices go back up.
People that understant this boom/bust cycle know that when the boom goes on, put some money into the rainy day fund. When the bust comes, there will be money available to weather the downturn.
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Yes I think of Minnesota when Jesse Ventura was governor. He gave the surplus back to the taxpayers and when times got tough there wasn’t a rainy day fund.
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People don’t seem to remember good old Dubbya did the same thing. Gave everyone a check back, gave the wealthy a tax break, got us into two wars that he didn’t pay for, and eventually dipped into that nasty SS that the Repo’s want to get rid of now. But hey…Let’s just forget about all that because the black dude put the money on the books and look how much he spent…..Ol’ Dubya really really showed a good example how some of these big lottery winners end up way in the red after having so much….Dumb ass ideas will do it every time…
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My take away from this story is that smaller political and economic divisions are better for the people being governed, and more responsive to the will of the electorate. I would bet that if California had been 10 to 15 small states with 2 to 4 million people each they would be in much better shape, even with the illegal immigration problems they are contending with. People in smaller nations tend to live more satisfying lives as well, such as Switzerland and the low countries of Europe. Bigger isn’t always better, as is the case with our Federal government in DC. Maybe those secessionists in Texas have a point.
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Yep oldgeek be proud. While your government puts oil money away for a rainy day your infastructure suffers. Your highways are crowded with 80000 lbs driving 65 to 70 mph all over western nd. These highways are taking a pounding and are overcrowded. Instead of expanding them and creating more lanes to grow with the current boom using boom money, your government decides to ignore the problems. This is a dangerous situation people crash they’re cars. Explain to the familes of people lost in these crashes how we need to be saving this money for a ‘rainy day’. That rainy day is here in western nd.
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You expected that the highways would be upgraded in a year or two? Really?
I just drove through Williston. The new bypass is helping and the highways and roads are being upgraded. It will take time. I worked in the oil fields in the early 80s, when all of the money the state took in from the Williston area was being furiously spent in the eastern areas of ND. There were quite a few angry people in Williston when they saw Hwy 2 going east from Minot to Grand Forks being made a 4 lane using state matching funds earned in the oil fields while at the same time, the Williston area couldn’t get pot holes filled.
It is much better today.
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It has been 5 years
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Seems to be that the only criteria is to have a fat bank account. Guess they don’t know about our lawmakers and their bedroom fetishes.
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Article is about how the state is run not how politicians perform in bed.
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Since we are on the subject, I would like to point something out: How come some people do not want the government involved with their bedroom, but still want the government to fund their contraceptives?
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Because that’s just in Right Wing World, and doesn’t exist in the real world….Sorry Bob…You’ve been dupped again…
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Hey … if Maverick has some good gossip, let’s hear it. Don’t just give us a teaser. Spill it … names, dates, and places.
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i will weigh in and disagree with the ron comments re the gf resident post which i think are spot on. i believe that many states look at any increase in revenue with one thought-spend it NOW. i would add to GF’s post this thought-by and large the state of north dakota has a governing sector that is basically honest and does a good job in of SERVICE to north dakotans whose idea of getting things done is not necessarily having it done by the public sector rather than the private sector. the low population argument only goes so far-its about mindset.
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The state is run by the solar energy companies defined as oil , coal & by farmers that produce food which is also solar energy. All of these are condensed sunlight resources. These industries have corrupted ND politics from the beginning of statehood. It is time to stop trying to use the stored solar energy that must be mined including farmers as miners. Instead the time has come to collect sunlight directly from the Sun in the form of windmills & solar cells. The difference in source is in essence only semantic but one will cause the death of our civilization while the latter will preserve the inground version for other uses for future generations.
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Robert said many posts back, “One of the reasons that North Dakota is doing well (and a few others), is that we are PRODUCING something”.
“We are extracting oil, growing crops, raising cattle and have some manufacturing plants here.”
“Some states do not PRODUCE, but consume. Look at Wall Street. They move paper around, but do they PRODUCE anything?”
“Food and oil are essential commodities. You cannot live without them.”
So Robert, I didn’t know Wall St. was a state. You’re saying Wall St. doesn’t produce anything so that means New York state doesn’t produce anything? That’s what you said. New York probably produces by far more dairy products than ND. What do you think all that farmland in upstate NY is for if not to supply NYC with food?
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Whoa whoa whoa, you people are twisting my words. The government is suppose to have a balanced budget. Your conservative advocate attack when there is a defecit. Well a surplus needs to go under the same amount of auditing and critisism. A surplus is only acceptable under circumstances when the needs of the people are met. Right now the needs of the people are not being met. Western north dakota needs infastructure now. The need roads expanded, new roads built, sewar and utilities expanded so “private buisness” can build affordable housing. Once those needs and the needs of your citizens are met a surplus is acceptable.
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I agree, North Dakota, due to some great public officals and the work ethic of its people, is a very well run state. However, with SLND using used car lot tactics, public trust in getting student loans is going to vanish. They would have you believe student loans are low interest rate loans to help educate our youth. What they do not tell you is they charge nearly 20% if you want to restructure and go back on verbal committments stopping people from advancing. And, they basically give you the impression you cannot fight city hall. I disagree, and will continue to expose them for the dirty tactics they have. This is a world of social media, and I plan to expose them at every opportunity until they start doing the right thing.
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Are you talking about the State Bank of ND. You use the initials SLND which I assume is a ref. to the legislature. So you’re blaming both for bad lending policies, right?
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I am blaming Student Loans of North Dakota for their business practices. When they use goverment funds, they should be held to higher standard, and I hope some elected official or consumer watchdog group I have not contacted yet reads this and looks into this lender who acts as if they are the only game in town and thinks they have a monopoly.
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I went to college both back in the 80′s and again after 2000. The interest rates on student loans back in the 80′s were 8 1/2 percent and 10 percent (one for subsidized and one for unsubsidized). When I went more recently and utilized the services of SLND (Student Loans of North Dakota which is associated with the Bank of North Dakota), interest rates had dropped down to just over 6 percent. I was surprised because I had expected the same or higher interest rates than what I paid for my education back in the 80′s.
My experience with SLND was quite good. It wasn’t until my last year in this final round of college that the federal system took over student loans. I was disappointed. I would much rather work with local agencies and organizations than those in the federal sector. I realize that a lot of $$$$ eventually goes to federal agencies, but as far as a business relationship, locally is more personal to me.
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