Editor's note

The election last week took the air out of the room. But I have it on good authority, our podcast,Who Gets What?will resume in this coming week. In the meantime, you can go tomortonjohn.libsyn.comand listen to any of the 300+ recording available there.

How has Indiana’s economy changed over the past 10 years compared to the nation? We’ll use the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ annual data on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the value of goods and services produced in this state compared with the nation. 2013 to 2023.

The data cover 65 industries. But 19 of those 65 are within Manufacturing while Construction is reported as a single industry. Would our view be different if the many different aspects of Construction were reported in detail?

We will use what we have. The nation’s GDP increased by 64% . Indiana’s gain was 59%. [These figures are unadjusted for inflation, humidity or other potential factors of consequence.]

Of the 65 industries or sub-sectors, all but Support activities for mining grew at the national level. In Indiana that sector was the 8th fastest growing industry and only 7 sectors declined.

In how many industries did Indiana’s growth rate exceed that of its national counterpart? The answer is 30 of 65. Which means in the majority of industries, our GDP grew slower or declined faster than did the nation.

The fastest growing sector nationally was Data processing, hosting, and other information services (221%). That growth in Indiana was 117%, our 7th best performer. [Note: 100% growth is a doubling of output.]

The difference between the nation’s 221% and our 117% (104 percentage points) ranked 64th of those 65 sectors. Ironically, in 65th place was Publishing industries (except Internet) where the growth was 105% across the nation while Indiana saw a decline of 5%. Here we have Publishing, the 7th fastest growth industry for the country, ranking 60th in Indiana.

Where did we excel? Indiana’s fastest growing sector, and where we achieved our greatest triumph over the nation was in Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles. (IN 510%, US 121%). These entities pool assets for employees or other beneficiaries by earning interest and dividends, but employ only 3,000 persons nationally, mainly accountants and auditors.

Despite its growth rate, in 2023, the Funds industry was only 0.05% of Indiana’s GDP and only slightly higher for the U.S.

What is the greatest contributor to GDP in the nation and the Hoosier state? Real estate (US 12%, IN 10%).

What is Real estate? Nationwide, it’s about 368,000 people who work in the offices of real estate agents and brokers, along with managers, lessors, and appraisers of residential and commercial properties.

All of these data have utility, but are dependent on how you slice and dice the economy. Are you concerned with the size of an industry, with its growth rate, with its performance in its geographic area, compared to other industries within that area or nationally?

We shouldn’t be surprised advocates and opponents will find different truths in the same set of data. Maybe data, like cigarettes, should carry warning labels about the dangers of second-hand smoke.
Morton J. Marcus is an economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. His column appears in Indiana newspapers, and his views can be followed his podcast.

© 2025 Morton J. Marcus

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