On the same day that economic development officials from across Louisiana recently gathered at L’Auberge Casino for the third annual Statewide Economic Development Summit, U.S. News & World Report issued its annual ranking of the 50 states.
“The timing could not have been more ironic,” writes Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column. “While the crowd at the summit was patting itself on the back for its economic development wins, and ruminating on such topics as how mayors can make better cities and the lessons we can learn from great corporate citizens like CenturyLink in Monroe and Sasol in Westlake, the U.S. News & World Report list was suggesting to the rest of America that Louisiana is a pretty awful place to live, work and do business.”
One can question the validity of such lists, Reigel says. But as far as list-making organizations go, she says US News & World Report is about as credible as they come.
The data for the rankings came from McKinsey and Co., one of the foremost management consulting firms in the world, Riegel notes. It measured the 50 states across 77 different metrics and crunched the numbers into seven categories.
“The Bayou State fared poorly in every one of them,” Riegel writes. “Indeed, in no category did we even make it out of the bottom 10.”
The rankings, from best to worst, were as follows: quality of life, 42nd; economy, 44th; infrastructure, 44th; health care, 47th; crime, 48th; fiscal stability, 48th; education, 49th; and opportunity, 50th. Louisiana’s overall ranking: Dead last.
“‘Zero … point … zero,’ is the line that keeps running through my head, as I can’t help but recall the classic scene from Animal House when Dean Wormer reads John Belushi and his fellow fraternity brothers their abysmal, midterm GPAs. It’s the same scene where he warns them that ‘fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life,’” she says. “It was funny in the movie. It’s not so funny in real life.”
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