Posted on 08/07/2003 2:25:09 PM PDT by hsmomx3
Although hard to believe, the following ad appeared in the help-wanted section of yesterday's Arizona Republic:
Business Columnist Wanted
The Arizona Republic, a Gannett newspaper with a circulation of a half-million, has an immediate opening for a business columnist. The ideal candidate will have a journalism degree and at least ten years of experience with a big-city newspaper. It is not necessary to have an in-depth knowledge of economics, finance, statistics or the philosophical, moral and historical foundations of capitalism. Nor does the candidate need to know how to conduct research. It will be a plus, however, if the candidate believes in a planned economy, high taxes and socialized mass transit. Send resume with writing samples of single-syllable words and "See Spot run" sentences to Human Resources Manager, 200 E. Van Buren, Phoenix AZ 85004.
Just kidding. There really wasn't such an ad in the Republic. But there is a Republic business columnist who seems to fit the above qualifications. His name is Jon Talton.
Consider Talton's column of August 5. Although it is difficult to interpret the column's intellectual mush, Talton seems to make the point that growth controls will increase metro Phoenix wages.
Well, if that is true, then it must also be true for the city with the most stringent growth controls and a lot of mass transit, Portland, Oregon. But Talton didn't report any statistics for Portland, since backing up his conclusions with research and facts is not a requirement for his job.
That leaves it up to readers to conduct the research. Here is what this reader found on the Internet in 15 minutes:
From 1990 to 2000, Portland's outer counties accounted for 80.9 percent of the metro area's population growth, while the core county of Multnomah accounted for only 19.1 percent of the growth. By comparison, 75.1 percent of the growth in metro Atlanta occurred in outer counties.
From 1990 to 2002, the City of Portland population grew 17 percent, and the rest of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area grew 22 percent. Half of the city's growth was in the 45 to 64 age group, and the city saw only modest growth in the under 5 age group. For the rest of the metro area, the under 5 age group grew by 21 percent.
Average household income for 2002 was $51,151 in the City of Portland, $61,649 in the rest of the Portland metro area, and $55,684 in the United States as a whole. In 2000, the average household income in metro Phoenix was $55,408.
It should be noted that Portland's population is 85 percent non-Hispanic white. With one-sixth the number of immigrants from Latin America as Phoenix, Portland has far fewer poor immigrants in need of inexpensive housing. Thank goodness. Because of growth controls, Portland's housing is about 30 percent more expensive than Phoenix's.
Almost 62 percent of City of Portland households have an income below $35,000, versus 28 percent for the rest of the Portland metro area and versus 34 percent for Phoenix.
Higher-wage manufacturing jobs comprise 12.78 percent of the City of Portland economy and 16.01 percent of the rest of the metro area's economy. Lower-wage services jobs comprise 46.14 percent of the Portland economy and 37.25 percent of the rest of the metro area's economy.
Between 1991 and 2001, Portland's Gross Metropolitan Product grew 101.8 percent. During the same period, the metro Phoenix population grew 40 percent and the Gross Metropolitan Product increased from $49 billion to $119.3 billion, or 143.6 percent. (For comparison, San Francisco's GMP grew 60.6 percent, and Denver's grew 111.2 percent.)
There are more statistics, but the point has been made. The point is, I am not qualified to be a business columnist for The Arizona Republic. I like to base conclusions on research and facts.
_________
Mr. Cantoni is an author of a business book, a freelance columnist and a management consultant. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.
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