The state's economy is taking hits – but Wisconsin is not California. “It's rare to say this when it's ten degrees outside, but thank God we're not in California,” said John Koskinen, Chief Economist with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, during a recent briefing to the state Senate's Committee on Economic Development.
Explaining reasons why the recession hasn't hit the Badger state as severely as some others, Koskinen said Wisconsin does not have a large presence in some of the financial shakeout that's been hitting the economies of other states, and Wisconsin hasn't seen the sorts of home over-building in states like Nevada, Florida and California.
“We are probably in a better position, because we did not ride the speculative wave as much as the rest of the country,” said Koskinen. “As the (federal) stimulus kicks in . . .we're in a better position to take advantage of it.”
One other piece of economic news from Koskinen: for a change, Minnesota's unemployment rate is higher than Wisconsin's, and that state has been seeing more severe employment losses than Wisconsin, because of differences in the financial services industries in the two states.
AUDIO: Bob Hage reports (:55 MP3)
