tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post554568595078970601..comments2024-02-20T19:58:27.733-06:00Comments on Jake's Wisconsin Funhouse: Wisconsin population growth better in 2017, but still lagging USUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-59845166995335271852018-03-24T09:31:14.529-05:002018-03-24T09:31:14.529-05:00There are several points I'd like to refute in...There are several points I'd like to refute in Jake's article. 1. Climate change will likely help the Midwest and WI. While you can say that people leave to go south for the warm winters, it is also unbearably hot in the southern summer. While in WI climate changes is moderating our winters, extending the growing season, and increasing rainfall. As frequent drought and deadly heat waves become more frequent in the south and west then WI with its moderate climate and great lakes will be more attractive.<br /><br />2. Most of the population increase in the early 2000's was due to international immigration (both legal & illegal) - rather than democratic governance as you've suggested. Recent right-wing policies have hit Latinos particularly hard and have resulted in serious worker shortages in dairy farming and light manufacturing. Rural and northern WI are especially hurt by the loss of Latino immigration - which was the one demographic moving into these areas. Only imigration reform with a path to citizenship, increased visas, and guest worker programs can help turn the tide on population growth in WI. But, this is less of a state governance issue than a federal one. But voters in rural areas of the Midwest are largely responsible for voting for candidates hostile to immigration. So, in a way we are voting for the death of our small towns rather than a prosperous future. Sometimes You get what you vote for - and that's not so pretty. Kenneth Casperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00495460401693601227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-16235918176296835222017-12-24T19:51:54.939-06:002017-12-24T19:51:54.939-06:00I'm guessing most of the population gains are ...I'm guessing most of the population gains are due to people leaving Illinois that had an estimated loss of almost -34000 people for the year. It would be interesting to view the numbers if IL residents moving in were removed to see what the actual growth stats would look like. Is it possible that growth without IL residents crossing the border would be flat? It could mean that most areas might actually be losing population. The only counties that really benefit from people moving across the border are mainly those at the very bottom of the state, so most county growth rates might be stale. Wisconsin might be gaining more wealthy residents but since most of the population isn't wealthy, it would make sense growth rates in MN would be significantly higher. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/star-tribune/20171224/283154314028626 talks about the state having the largest number of millionaires on record after predictions that wealth would permanently leave the state when tax rates on the states richest were predicted to leave. It could be true there would be even more had the higher tax rate not been passed but maybe the increased funding drew more to the state also. The number or millionaires living in the state was 6433 in 2012, dropped to 5427 in 2013 after the tax change, and was back to 6892 for 2015(last year of records available). So it's possible high service states can also attract millionaires, possibly just a different type of them.Jake Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03609331924008419458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-18647422150301779762017-12-23T21:58:15.636-06:002017-12-23T21:58:15.636-06:00Agree on your points, and I am including non-colle...Agree on your points, and I am including non-college degree labor in my list of "talent." As I've often,mentioned here, our manufacturing wages are the lowest in the Midwest, and to no surprise, we can't find workers for those jobs because other states pay better.<br /><br />And good infrastructure and having quality schools helps all types of communities. We used to believe in those things here.Jake formerly of the LPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15660401299391001751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3426800777521979578.post-15719442975974708132017-12-23T21:44:19.505-06:002017-12-23T21:44:19.505-06:00We sure need more people here, but that only comes...We sure need more people here, but that only comes with offers of economic success for all, not just the neoliberal.<br /><br />People, no matter where they live, need economic opportunity to have a roof over their heads and pay basic bills like utilities and a car.<br /><br />I see it as a long-standing trend, because our economy has worked the way it has, to discourage people from living here. I grew up in Milwaukee at a time of it's peak population circa 1960-70, and jobs were there for lots, only in 1967 they had a revolt, and jobs businesses either were destroyed by neoliberal financial thinking or just left Milwaukee for the suburbs, leaving Milwaukee in a dire situation.<br /><br />Smaller cities also lost jobs because businesses either closed or went along with the neoliberal globalistic trend. <br /><br />Huge areas--urban and rural--have been destroyed because they are no longer offered the opportunity to sustain a family. This trend started long ago, through Carter, especially Reagan, adapted by Clinton, then amped up by the anarcho-capitalist Tea Party set.<br /><br />I truly can't stand the likes of Walker and Fitzgerald; it has wrecked our State. Let's hope our economy can open up to provide all of us, even those lacking degreed "talent," an opportunity at life and moving forward. <br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com