Louisiana missed the boat again

[cajun]

Old but relevant topics on Louisiana.   

Ted Talk 2015 - Steve Moret

Ted Talk 2015 - Garrett Graves

Just two years later, it's plainly obvious that Louisiana never fails to shoot itself in the foot.

[cajun]

 

Quote

 

Toyota, Mazda partner to build EVs at new $1.6 billion U.S. plant

 

TOKYO — Toyota and Mazda plan to build a $1.6 billion U.S. assembly plant, the two said on Friday, as part of an alliance that will also see the Japanese automakers jointly develop electric vehicle technologies.

 

So how does Louisiana get themselves on the map for this?  

https://www.yahoo.com/news/toyota-mazda-partner-build-evs-115100376.html

[cajun]

The national economy is booming, recent changes to federal tax law have sparked a flood of CapEx spending, and oil prices have largely recovered. 

Louisiana is still just surviving.  It’s not living.  

The budget is still a mess, taxes are increasing, and there is still nowhere near enough investment into infrastructure or higher ed.  

What gives? 

[Tennessine]

8 hours ago, cajun said:

The national economy is booming, recent changes to federal tax law have sparked a flood of CapEx spending, and oil prices have largely recovered. 

Louisiana is still just surviving.  It’s not living.  

The budget is still a mess, taxes are increasing, and there is still nowhere near enough investment into infrastructure or higher ed.  

What gives? 

First of all, I'm a Tennessean who LOVES visiting Louisiana. Each trip has been a great time. You can't get a slice of the culture found in Louisiana anywhere else in the States.

It's upsetting to see the annual statistics: high crime (usually #1 out of 50 states), high poverty rates, and negative domestic migration. More people are leaving Louisiana than moving there.

Tennessee is not far off from Louisiana, as we also suffer from high crime (perpetual top 5), Appalachian poverty, and low upward mobility.

Despite the similitude, Tennessee is booming with growth across all sectors, while, as you said, Louisiana is just getting by. Why is TN thriving while LA is stagnant?

A few best guesses of mine:

1. Louisiana is disaster-prone, and Katrina was the nail in the coffin. I don't think the New Orleans metro area will ever fully recover from it. Take a look at how often tropical storms and floods strike Louisiana:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/24/us/disasters-hurricanes-wildfires-storms.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

States like California, Texas, and Florida can absorb multi-billion dollar natural disasters due to their high populations, but Louisiana is a small state with less than 5 million people. The government is under an immense amount of strain to foot the bill for the damage caused by recent disasters such as Katrina, Isaac and the 2016 floods. Taxes soar and the domestic migration remains negative.

2. Louisiana's economy is too dependent on the construction and energy sectors, both of which are very susceptible to high numeric job losses during recessions. 

3. Houston, once a peer city of NOLA, has outpaced it and taken away most of New Orleans' importance as a transportation hub.

 

 

[Dale]

Curiously, NOLA and BR are booming right now.