Morton J. Marcus, an economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University
A year ago in this space I urged then Governor-elect Mitch Daniels to focus on improved information for decision making. His administration has done that although there is still much work ahead.
The danger today is not from inadequate attention by Indianaʼs government to the data requirements of the state, its localities and businesses. No, the danger comes from serious budget cuts by the Federal government. We need our governor, our senators, our representatives and our local officials to raise the alarm so that the new Congress and the Obama administration will reverse the errors of the past year.
The U.S. budget proposed by the Bush administration and passed by the Congress cut into the funding for statistical programs of many federal agencies. What gets cut? National data is never at risk. Big business and their lobbyists would not allow it. Even states are fairly secure.
The cuts will be down where we live, down at the metropolitan areas, the county and the city levels. The cuts will hurt local businesses and economic development since they will not have the data that helps them see how their market differs from the state and the nation.
We are not sure what will disappear. But metropolitan Gross Domestic Product, the most comprehensive measure of economic output, is a likely candidate to be lost.
This GDP figure (from the Bureau of Economic Analysis) is the best measure of how well our economies are performing. It goes beyond income and employment to the heart of business health and productivity.
Maybe we wouldnʼt be happy to learn that for the last five years for which we have data (2001-2006), Muncie ranked last in economic growth among the 363 U.S. metro areas. Or that Anderson was just sixteen places from the bottom while Michigan City-LaPorte was in the bottom twenty-five. Nor would we delight in the knowledge that Indianapolis, that shining star of Indiana, ranked a dim 225th among the nationʼs metro areas.
We might lose vital local data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, where else would we learn that Franklin County in southeastern Indiana led the state in percent growth of business establishments? At the same time (first quarter 2007 to the same period this year), Knox County (Vincennes) was the leader in percent growth of total employee compensation.
Everyone is focused on manufacturing in Indiana without realizing that the geographic variations are enormous. While Allen County (Ft. Wayne) was losing $32.4 million in manufacturing workersʼ wages, Bartholomew County (Columbus) saw a growth of $31.7 million. While there was a statewide decline of 0.7% in manufacturing wages between the first quarters of 2007 and 2008, a dozen counties saw growth of eight percent or more. The biggest loser was Madison County (Anderson) where manufacturing wages fell by more than 53%.
For all its problems, manufacturing still accounts for 31% of all wages in Indiana. In 25 of our 92 counties, manufacturing yields at least half of all wages. This detail is possible only if we have local level data from our federal agencies.
Finally, think about the Census of 2010. It is almost upon us, just fourteen months away. Will we lose local data on education and housing, on employment, income and occupations because the Bureau of the Census does not have the resources to conduct a proper survey of Americans?
If you write but one letter to Santa this year, make it a plea for producing good local area data for our localities. Donʼt forget to send a copy of your letter to Senators Lugar and Bayh, your congressman, and to this newspaper.