I made the mistake of reading an email that I got from the CRI’s dishonest fraud, Dr. John E. Stapleford. Stappy sucked me in by sounding almost human for a second.
A Tale of Two Societies
Any discussion of job creation in Delaware must start with the recognition of the existence of the two distinct societies in Delaware: persons with limited education (a high school degree or less) and persons with ample education (a college degree or more).The limited education folks are being hammered by the current economy while the ample education crowd barely knows there has been a recession. The ample education crowd dominates policy decision making and that is to the distinct disadvantage of the limited education folks.
First, let’s discuss the distribution of the burden of Delaware’s current economic struggles.
While other factors may come into play, in today’s labor market formal education is the primary determinant of employment and earnings. Delawareans with less education have an unemployment rate three to five times higher than workers with ample education. They are two to three times more likely to be underemployed or working part-time despite wanting full time employment.
Hmmm… this sounds almost reasonable. “folks are being hammered by the current economy…” What’s your game Stappy? Where is he going with this?
Over half of Delaware’s 34,000 unemployed are persons with less education, while only 15% are persons with ample education. More than one-fifth of Delaware’s unemployed live in households that fall below the poverty line. The poverty rate for Delawareans with limited education is three to seven times higher than among those with ample education. Only 4% percent of Delawareans with ample education lack health insurance compared to 11% of high school graduates and 22% of dropouts.
Second, the ample education crowd’s domination of the public policy process reflects the reality that they live in a different and more advantaged world. The two clearest examples are the focus of the ample education folks on the environment and quality of life issues at the expense of economic growth and their unwillingness to confront Delaware’s mediocre public education system. Let’s briefly discuss both.
Quality of life issues at the expense of economic growth? I feel some queasiness coming on.
An early major quality of life initiative was the passage of New Castle County’s Uniform Development Act (UDC) land use regulations in 1998. The UDC language was clear: “growth management,” “control density,” “preserve agriculture,” and “protect from adverse consequences (of development).” A clear no-growth, quality of life enhancing regulation.
The UDC has worked almost exactly as intended. Since 1998 job growth in NCC has ground to a halt. Residential construction has collapsed and, with little growth in the tax base, property taxes and user fees have soared. The UDC, for whatever modest impacts it has had on the quality of life, has come at great economic cost.
Boom. I knew it. What a dishonest fraud that guy is. Of course all economic prosperity rests on our willingness to pave over every square inch of property. Any bought and paid for wingnut “academic” worth his salt could tell you that.
Being a wingnut academic must be the easiest money in the world. All you have to do is divest yourself of any integrity and watch the bank account grow.