The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
All you coastal elites, read and weep, the Wall Street Journal now makes it official:
While the overall numbers are still small compared to those of bigger states, North Dakota now outperforms the nation in everything from the percentage of college graduates under the age of 45 to per-capita numbers of engineering and science graduates. Median household income in 2009 was $49,450, up from $42,235 in 2000. That 17% increase over the last decade was three times the rate of Massachussetts and more than 10 times that of California.
and...
What accounts for the state's success? Dakotans didn't bet the farm, so to speak, on solar cells, high-density housing or high-speed rail. Taxes are moderate—the state ranks near the middle in terms of tax per capita, according to the Tax Foundation—and North Dakota is a right-to-work state, which makes it attractive to new employers, especially in manufacturing. But the state's real key to success is doing the first things first—such as producing energy, food and specialized manufactured goods for which there is a growing, world-wide market. This is what creates the employment and wealth that can support environmental protection and higher education.
Read the whole thing. Then read it again. And again.
Update: And from the comments to the Wall Street Journal article, here's the report of the Campaign for Free Enterprise from the US Chamber of Commerce:
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Dec '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Is there any more appropriate response than "Huzzah!"? I can think of some contenders, but they violate the CoC.
Jul '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
All well and good. But I've been in North Dakota in winter. And I've lived in California in winter. And I can pretty much guarantee you that California has a higher tooth-to-resident ratio than ND.
Not everything comes down to economics and fiscal policy.
Nov '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
I suppose the oil will flow until Birkenstocks come out with an insulated version.
Sep '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
North Dakota is usually second only to Kansas in wheat production in the U.S. When I was there, on the way to Minnesota, I saw huge fields of sunflowers, many more than I've ever seen in Kansas. And Kansas is known as the Sunflower State...
I've also noticed over the years, at the edge of many a row crop field here in Kansas, signs which read "Don't badmouth farmers with your mouth full," and "One Kansas farmer feeds 96 people (or whatever the number is at the time -- over time, that number has increased) and you."
I know, I know, California produces lots of agricultural products, and has a lot of wealth, and is full of beautiful, fully-toothed people, and has great weather and spectacular scenery, but I can't fathom anyone 'round these parts being such a snob, Kenneth. We are more graceful and classy than that.
Not everything begins and ends with California.
Edited on Mar 17, 2011 at 8:47amNov '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Thanks Dan. I have a daughter that lives in ND and she's always the most jaw-droppingly beautiful girl in the room. No matter what state she's in.
Edited on Mar 17, 2011 at 9:01amJul '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Dan Holmes:
but I can't fathom anyone 'round these parts being such a snob, Kenneth. We are more graceful and classy than that.
Edited on Mar 17 at 08:47 am
Seems there might be a sense of humor deficit, too....
Jul '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
No, most things begin and end in the Empire State, which, by the way, has the fourth highest agricultural production in the country.
Mar '11
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
I live in SoCal and absolutely despise it. The boring weather, the shackles of progressive policy, the traffic, the concrete rivers, the ridiculous hunting restrictions...
North Dakota, I long for thee...
Jun '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
As was more common fifty years ago, North Dakotans (most) are grateful to God for what they have, and try to make the most of it. It's all about attitude. And if you're bored-to-death there, the problem is probably lack of imagination. The World has become a very small place--even from North Dakota.
Dec '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Amen..! Admittedly, North Dakota doesn't have the SoCal beaches and the moderate climate, but at some point you gotta choose how you want to live your life and what level or type of discomfort you want to endure. Besides, many in the mid-west escape for 2-3 weeks to escape the cold. The standing joke of the telephone pole being the North Dakota State tree is because part of the state is pretty sparse, but the southwest corner is very scenic.
Edited on Mar 17, 2011 at 1:36pmJun '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
For all their frugality, North Dakota, along with the rest of the nation, will end up helping bail out California and Illinois no doubt. So, who ends up being the sucker? States like North Dakota, I'm guessing.
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
I’m married to a North Dakotan and have boggled at its space, have driven its one-point-perspective roads, and have enjoyed its hospitality. You could do a lot worse. And you’d have a lot of space to yourself—Fargo (ND)-Moorhead (MN) only had about 100,000 people when I was there. And Jamestown—third largest city in the state—came in at around 25K.
And they have four seasons, SoCal types! I mean, sure, it’s 110° in the summer and -50° in the winter, but variety is the spice of life!
Dec '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Bill Walsh: I’m married to a North Dakotan and have boggled at its space, have driven its one-point-perspective roads, and have enjoyed its hospitality. You could do a lot worse. And you’d have a lot of space to yourself—Fargo (ND)-Moorhead (MN) only had about 100,000 people when I was there. And Jamestown—third largest city in the state—came in at around 25K.
And they have four seasons, SoCal types! I mean, sure, it’s 110° in the summer and -50° in the winter, but variety is the spice of life! · Mar 17 at 1:35pm
That settles it! We're all moving to N. Dakota to homestead and form the new town of Ricochet, North Dakota. Claire, Rob, Peter, James - fight amongst yourselves as to who will be the Mayor. It sounds better than Lake Wobegon, MN...
Edited on Mar 17, 2011 at 1:43pmJun '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Back in the day, I spent 6 formative years growing up near Grand Forks. Aside from the flat terrain and bitter winter winds barreling down from the north, I remember with affection the wide open and empty spaces, the scattered farm communities and monolithic grain elevators.
In the early 80's, we used to joke that if North Dakota were to ever to secede from the union, we'd be in the top 5 nations in terms of nuclear armaments, thanks to the Minutemen lying just underneath all those sunflower and wheat fields, and to the B-52 squadrons stationed nearby. Alas, most (if not all) of those silos have long since been mothballed, and the bombers have relocated as well.
I haven't been back since, but I've often wondered what it would be like to drive I-94 at speeds faster than 55mph.
Feb '11
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Fargo was a great movie. But it looked too cold.
Feb '11
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
Is it just me or is this post bizarre…are you guys that out of touch? North Dakota is booming because of newly discovered and exploited oil fields… not because of its libertarian policies.
According to this report from 2004 North Dakota was number two in line at the Federal teat, second only to D.C. All you California bashers will notice that California was second to the last on that list. So you could well say that North Dakota's policy of moderate state taxes has, to some extent, been subsidized by federal taxes paid by Californianos.
Jul '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
GoyoMarquez: Is it just me or is this post bizarre…are you guys that out of touch? North Dakota is booming because of newly discovered and exploited oil fields… not because of its libertarian policies.
According to this report from 2004 North Dakota was number two in line at the Federal teat, second only to D.C. All you California bashers will notice that California was second to the last on that list. So you could well say that North Dakota's policy of moderate state taxes has, to some extent, been subsidized by federal taxes paid by Californianos. · Mar 17 at 2:31pm
Good points. And let us not forget that for the past 24 years, the state has maintained two Democrats in the United States Senate.
May '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
That report is misleading. Because of the extremely progressive income tax, states that have a high number of rich (high income) people will pay disproportionately more federal taxes. Even if two states have the same mean and median incomes, the state with the wider spread will pay more in taxes. Just look at the states at the top and bottom of the list and you will see the correlation.
Federal payouts being roughly insensitive to high-end income differences, this completely skews the basic comparison the study attempts to make. These figures are most likely warped by the wide range in the denominator (taxes) rather than some kind of federal red-state-only welfare program.
Edited on Mar 17, 2011 at 6:10pmFeb '10
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
You are only partially correct-- if you read the article you'll find there are other booming fields, such as tech.
A little-known fact is that although Ricochet is headquartered in California, the initial version of the site was developed by a contractor in South Dakota. Yes, not North Dakota, I know, but close enough. It sounds like North Dakota is doing some of the same things-- startups, tech innovations, and so on.
P.S. Ricochet is a truly global company, having had help from contractors in Texas, South Dakota, Estonia and Germany. The Road to World Domination Begins with Ricochet?!?
Re: The Road to World Domination Begins in Fargo
As a native NoDakian and proud son of Fargo, I'll take the mayor's job; I speak the local tongue. But I'd hope Ricochet, ND is founded in the Red River Valley, with quick access to Fargo - outstate can get somewhat . . . lonely. (I did a site on North Dakota downtowns on Google Street View, here.)
Fargo is a remarkable success story - when I left for college downtown was empty and deserted, killed by the suburban mall; now it's booming, its warehouses and hotels rehabbed for housing, coffee shops, fine restaurants, a new library, a magnificent old movie theater. And across the river, in Minnesota?
Meh. Moorhead, the town on the Minnesota side of the rivrer, has none of the energy and prosperity of Fargo, because it has Minnesota rules for everything. It's a rather stark example of what more regulation and taxation produces. Even better: Moorhead embarked on wholesale urban renewal in the seventies, listening to the Planners who argued that the utter demolition of a downtown was the only way to save it. They built a mall. It's empty. You can't even buy a tumbleweed.