Morton Marcus
Among the most famous words in the New Testament are “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Those words came to mind when Donald Trump ranted against The Swamp in Washington. They also came to mind when the Indiana General Assembly reduced protection for wetlands in our state.
Environmentally and economically, The Swamp is vitally important for America. Whether it be the Everglades or the Census Bureau, all of us gain from its role in enriching our lives.
America lives on data and dies from ignorance or indifference to data. We all collect data. When we see crowds of customers at one store and not at another, we are collecting data.
When friends tell us about an exciting or informative program on TV, we are assembling data.
That’s exactly what the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and many others in The Swamp do regularly. Plus, they make it public, without charge.
And they do it with rigor and vigor. Unlike the State of Indiana, The Swamp does not suffer from data constipation. Our state withholds data. When Mitch Daniels was Governor, he may have tried, but failed to find a tonic to loosen the grip on data of the Department of Revenue (DOR) and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD), to name but two agencies.
Try to find the addresses of all businesses in Grant County from DWD. They claim it is confidential. But that’s not the case in other states.
Try to get reasonably current and accurate data on county retail sales tax collections from DOR. It’s available in other states, but not here.
I’ve tried. But that was yesterday. Maybe today it’s better, but I’m not finding it. Afterall, I’m an old nerd.
In the absence of Indiana retail sales tax information, I turn to the Census Bureau’s exploratory set of state retail sales data. Yes, exploratory. Something relatively new, an attempt to satisfy the need of many in and out of government to understand state differences in our complex economy.
From the June 2022 data, Indiana’s retail sales, unadjusted for price changes, were up 7.8% compared to the nation’s 9.2% increase. This includes our gasoline sales increase of 44% compared to 48% rise nationally.
Again, these data are from an experimental program at the Census Bureau. They have been released with the appropriate analytical statistics for anyone who wishes to examine their quality. The Swamp does not hide its alligators.
But these data, being out there for all who wish to see them, will circulate and percolate through the professional media and the many crevices of social media.
All of which is better than dancing around the golden calf, as Moses found the people when he descended Mt. Sinai with the tablets.
Mr. Marcus is an economist. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him and John Guy on Who Gets What? wherever podcasts are available or at mortonjohn.libsyn.com.
