New Hampshire's Lost Decade (and a third). - Granite Grok

New Hampshire’s Lost Decade (and a third).

Charlie Arlinghaus, writing in the Union Leader, talks about stagnation in New Hampshire becoming “the new normal.”

In the course of his discourse on the years before and during our current stasis, business tax reform appears to coincide with job growth before the lost decade, and a lack of business tax reform for a lack of job growth during it.

Over the last 13 years, jobs have risen a bit and fallen a bit but have averaged annual growth of just 3/10 of 1 percent. Our lost decade is now 13 years and counting.

Some will blame the stagnation on a lack of migration into New Hampshire, but I suspect that is a symptom rather than a cause. It is also worth noting that at the beginning of this stagnation the state increased the business profits tax twice, a 21.4 percent rate increase. Policymakers also tripled the smaller business enterprise tax, which may have had a lesser effect on decision making but certainly sent a psychological message.

13 years.

I have a thought about our lost decade.  In all but two of those 13 years New Hampshire has had a Democrat governor with Democrats owning the job for the past nine.

But I’m sure that’s all just a coincidence.

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