JJ Husker Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Sorry zoogs, I see you had a different link to follow. That answered my questions. Although I think their methodology was severely flawed...... Link to comment
Moiraine Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 We are in the shape we are because of our balanced budget amendment song with mostly a conservative outlook on life that Nebraskan's have. There's a lot more to it than that. For example: The OP article was data from 2013. From a separate article than the graph: "The report uses statistics from 2010 to paint a picture of the prowess of the state's ag-based economy. Its percentage share of the state's total economy is unmatched anywhere except South Dakota." http://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/todayatunl/1437/8116 Comparisons between Iowa and Nebraska would be interesting since Iowa's 18. They've voted democrat the past 2/3 times for president but I don't really know what their state policies are like. Then there's Kansas which is 24. Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Sure, the ag economy helps. But, like you pointed out, there are other ag states that don't fare as well as we do. I believe a large part of the difference is our balanced budget requirement. I lived in Iowa for 15 years. It's an interesting state in that they love to market themselves as a conservative farming state but they don't vote that way in national elections. Link to comment
darkhorse85 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Sure, the ag economy helps. But, like you pointed out, there are other ag states that don't fare as well as we do. I believe a large part of the difference is our balanced budget requirement. I lived in Iowa for 15 years. It's an interesting state in that they love to market themselves as a conservative farming state but they don't vote that way in national elections. Illinois, for example. #2 producer or corn, great fertile soil, and lots of pork as well. Just goes to show how one corrupt city in your state and screw the rest of the state over. Link to comment
krill Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 It would be interesting to see what effect subtracting pension obligations would have on the chart. I'm not sure exactly when Nebraska axed traditional pensions for most state workers, but there is still some form of obligation with a 401K type fund that is backed by a guaranteed rate of return that is far higher than market rate. If other states that did away with traditional pensions have similar systems, and the future obligationss are not tallied in in the same way compared to states that are saddled with massively underfunded pensions, that could potentially be a huge difference. Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 It would be interesting to see what effect subtracting pension obligations would have on the chart. I'm not sure exactly when Nebraska axed traditional pensions for most state workers, but there is still some form of obligation with a 401K type fund that is backed by a guaranteed rate of return that is far higher than market rate. If other states that did away with traditional pensions have similar systems, and the future obligationss are not tallied in in the same way compared to states that are saddled with massively underfunded pensions, that could potentially be a huge difference. Are you talking about a 457 plan? They have a guaranteed return rate that is higher than market? I have never heard of such a thing. Your question is a very interesting one and you might be onto something. Pensions are an absolute HORRIBLE retirement plan due to the future obligations it causes the employer to be obligated to along with the employee being tied to the employers ability to meet those obligations. Link to comment
krill Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 You'll have to look up the Nebraska cash balance pension to get a more accurate description of how it works, but it's basically a very generous defined contribution plan. The question with this fiscal health report is whether states that have huge defined benefit obligations (traditional pensions), that almost invaribaly have underfunded long term obligations, are accuracy compared to a state like Nebraska that could be looked at as more "healthy" with less known obligations. Link to comment
Mavric Posted July 11, 2015 Author Share Posted July 11, 2015 This isn't quite on topic - and really isn't news - but I thought it was interesting. Link to comment
cornographic Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 When the state's #1 industry(ag) is heavily subsidized by the Uncle Sam, it has a stabilizing effect. Socialism, it works. Link to comment
onlyHskrfaninIL Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 this map would seem to indicate otherwise Link to comment
HuskerNation1 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Illinois is a disaster due to so many of their politicians ending up in prison. As an IL resident, we have had corrupt politicians from both parties, but it's really the failure of the liberal controlled legislature (led by Mike Madigan for many years) that has failed to address the growing state debt and pension programs. The prior governor (Quinn) did not instill business-friendly legislation, and as a result, more jobs have been moved to Wisconsin and Indiana. Our new governor is an outsider that is trying to force the legislature to make hard choices, but so far they are not willing to. Link to comment
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