The Econbrowser blog ("Analysis of current economic conditions and policy") notes that Wisconsin's economic activity continues to surprise, "but not in a good way":
Wisconsin's decline is notable because the three month trajectory is not shared by any other state save one -- Wyoming.Funny, the state's economic underperformance has persisted since ... January 2011, when Scott Walker took office as governor.
There was plenty of warning that Walker's campaign promise to create 250,000 jobs wasn't gonna happen. The first thing he did after he was elected was to kill a federal rail project that would have brought hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs to Wisconsin.
He savagely cut the state budget, which depressed commercial activity.
He even outsourced to an Illinois company the famous Wisconsin Cream Puff, a beloved feature of the state fair.
Mike Ivie in The Cap Times recently reported on continued job cuts in Wisconsin:
(Critics) say the job cuts suggest that waging war on public-sector worker unions, cutting funding for public education and proclaiming the state “open for business” won’t magically turn Wisconsin into a new economy powerhouse...
Jack Norman, past research director at the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future, ....says one could argue the cuts to public worker take-home pay and other cost-savings measures under Walker have actually made Wisconsin’s economy worse....
“I think we’re seeing a local version of the austerity vs. investment debate going on across the capitalist world,” says Norman. “And right now, some countries are getting rid of their austerity policies because they aren’t working.”
