During her time as governor, Jennifer Granholm made significant investments in diversifying and expanding Michigan’s economy. These things take time to have their impact but, according to a new study, they are. Michigan is second in the nation in recovering from the recession.
Michigan’s economy is recovering from the recession at the second-fastest pace in the U.S., lifted by reviving carmakers and local manufacturers, according to a new index of state growth.The home of Motown was topped only by North Dakota, where an oil boom is raising incomes at the nation’s quickest rate. California, Massachusetts and Illinois round out the top five in the new Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States Index.
Michigan’s high ranking comes because the index measures growth since 2008, when the country was mired in recession and as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC were on the path to bankruptcy. Then, Michigan’s index score was negative — at -7.3 — and top-rated North Dakota was the only state with a positive rating, at 3.6 percent. The worst state was Wyoming, which turned in an index of more than -30.
Governor Rick Snyder and his administration are, apparently, quite willing to take credit for this turn-around, despite having been in office less than a year.
Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials touted the ranking.“We’re still going to be gunning for first, but compared to where we’ve been for the last decade, it’s exciting news,” Snyder said. “We’re going to stay dedicated to doing even more.”
Though he’s been governor for only two of the 10 quarters measured by the index, Snyder added, “We don’t care about credit. It’s all about getting results.”
More from MLive.com:
Snyder, speaking on a conference call from Ottawa, Canada, said he’s not taking – or giving credit – to anyone for the ranking, saying it came from a number of changes and factors over a period of time.But he said lowering businesses taxes, eliminating the Michigan Business Tax and removing other barriers to growth played a role. The state’s budget provides fiscal stability, eliminating one-time fixes and overspending, “paid down future liabilities and sends a strong signal to job providers that Michigan is open for business.”
And even more from WXYZ:
Michigan’s economy is recovering at the second fastest pace in the nation. That’s according to a new economic index that ranks growth in the states.The Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States says that the growth in auto manufacturing is driving Michigan’s recovery.
Governor Rick Snyder says that “the evaluation shows that Michigan’s strategy for regaining its economic vigor is on track.”
For a guy who doesn’t “care about credit”, that sounds an awful lot like he’s taking plenty of credit. These results don’t show we ARE on track. They show were WERE on track. Considering that he has completely reversed many of the things that Granholm did to achieve this success, I think we should all be worried about the impact of his policies on Michigan’s recovery.
I know I am.
