Thursday, March 04, 2010

Truly Irked

Erik Erickson, or as I like to call him, Irked Irksome, is a doosh.
You know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of unemployment benefits over time have the lowest unemployment and when we keep subsidizing the behavior, the behavior continues.
Irk needed to do more work.
For example, here's an analysis of unemployment by population density, most unemployment versus state ranking in density:
Michigan - $362     14.6%     16
Nevada - $362     13.0%     42
Rhode Island - $641     12.9%     2
South Carolina - $326     12.6%     21
California - $450     12.4%     11
Florida - $275     11.8%     8
North Carolina - $476     11.2%     15
Illinois - $511     11.1%     12
Alabama - $235     11.0%     27
Oregon - $463     11.0%     39


You'll note that of the top ten states in unemployment percentage (as of 2009) only two rank in the bottom half in population density (which also correlates to cost of living, which directly correlates with the amount in unemployment insurance.)
Of the last ten states in population density, only one has a rate over ten percent (roughly the national average)
Alaska - $320     8.8%     50
Wyoming - $387     7.5%     49
Montana - $386     6.7%     48
North Dakota - $385     4.4%     47
South Dakota - $285     4.7%     46
New Mexico - $455     8.3%     45
Idaho - $364     9.1%     44
Nebraska - $298     4.7%     43
Nevada - $362     13.0%     42
Utah - $427     6.7%     41
It gets better.
Of the top ten states in terms of unemployment benefits paid, only one ranks in the bottom half of population density
Rhode Island - $641  2
Massachusetts - $628  3
Connecticut - $576  4
New Jersey - $560  1
Pennsylvania - $547  10
Minnesota - $538  31
Hawaii - $523  13
Washington - $515  25
Illinois - $511  12
Maine - $496  38
But here's the kicker: the ten states with the lowest unemployment benefits, and their ranking by unemployment percentage (10% being roughly the national average)
Michigan         1
Nevada                    2
DC                         6
Wisconsin             30
Delaware             25
South Carolina         4
Alaska                 29
Georgia         16
Missouri         19
Nebraska         49
South Dakota         50
Florida         7
So Irk's little benefits = unemployment is absolute and utter bullshit.