Grim RI

Good God this article is depressing. The New York Times refers to RI as "arguably the most economically hobbled state after Michigan."

Perhaps the most disheartening part is that nobody is exactly sure why.

Education?

...Rhode Islanders are less educated than much of the country. The state has the lowest high school graduation rate in the Northeast and ranks 38th nationally.

Low pay?

Its average private-sector salary in 2007 was $39,827, compared with $55,819 in Massachusetts and $59,174 in Connecticut.

Taxes?

...a study last fall by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan group in Washington, ranked Rhode Island’s business climate the fifth-worst in the nation.

Corruption and parochialism? Remember, this is the state that recently saw a former governor, mayor of the capital city and State Supreme Court Justice all serve federal prison terms simultaneously.

“The whole political system is based on back scratching and getting things for your friends,” said Robert Whitcomb, editorial page editor of The Providence Journal. “That’s true for every place, but more so here because of the intimacy — you keep bumping into people you know.”

These are massive problems for a state that's facing a $7 billion unfunded pension liability, $357 million budget shortfall and 10% unemployment.

There is no panacea, and the next few years are going to be hard. Home prices are going to painfully reset and many of the blue collar jobs that are being lost are never going to come back.

However, The Ocean State still has a smart, energetic and creative population that will rebound from these hard times. They just need to figure out a way to keep all of those people from leaving, and to get them civically engaged.