North Dakota’s Economic “Miracle”-It’s Not Oil

[nebris]

North Dakota has had the nation’s lowest unemployment ever since the economy tanked. What’s its secret?
Ellen Brown
posted Aug 31, 2011
In an article in The New York Times on August 19th titled “The North Dakota Miracle,” Catherine Rampell writes:

Forget the Texas Miracle. Let’s instead take a look at North Dakota,
which has the lowest unemployment

Comments

[badnewswade]

It would be funny if all that was left of the US was some podunk state that none of us furriners have ever heard of like North Dakota. But then they'll probably get around to looting that soon enough...

[nebris]

Won't be so easy to 'loot' that state. Everybody knows everybody else and they're all well armed.

~M~

[kayjayuu]

Here here.

But hate to break it to you: it's mostly oil. That, and low population. We had 3 and 4 percent unemployment before things got really bad, and before the oil. Nobody wants to live here unless they have to, apparently.

The low foreclosure and credit card default rates she quotes has more to do with the conservative, no nonsense nature of the people who live here than any bank. It's still considered A Bad Thing to overextend yourself around here.

[nebris]

And I suspect even states less frugal that ND would benefit considerably from having a state bank akin to yours.

~M~