Idaho apparently, ain’t just known for potatoes any more. I recently ran across an article from Bloomberg about how great Idaho’s economy was - that's if you could get past their “Trump Friendly Idaho Doesn’t Put America First” title. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Credit: Bloomberg Economic Index
Credit: Bloomberg Economic Index
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As I delved into the article more, what I found the title to mean is that Idaho, which supported Trump in the last election by a 2 to 1 margin doesn’t follow along with  Trump’s Make America Great slogan. Our economy is strong because it’s so diversified across the world.  While the article is great and shows just how well Idaho is doing compared to other states, the title of the Bloomberg article was total B.S.

You can check out the Bloomberg article in its entirety here. Other than the crappy title, what's amazing to me isn’t just how well the Idaho economy is doing right now, but that we are doing so well that the second best performing state, (Washington) isn’t even close to us.

We all know that Idaho grows more potatoes than any other state, but that’s not why our economy is so hot right now.

According to Bloomberg, “Idaho relies heavily on international trade for its economic success, with China being one of the big importers of Idaho potatoes in the form of Simplot French Fries and also technology from companies like Micron.

"Idaho has the best combination of personal income increases, job growth, stock-market gains and home-price appreciation because its largest employers sell the bulk of their products overseas.”  So we don’t just count on selling and promoting our products just here in Idaho or even just the rest of the U.S. for that matter...and our economy is the better for it.....

Idaho’s economic health index eclipsed the state of Washington (who came in 2nd) by almost four percent according to the Bloomberg Economic Evaluation Index. The index measures each state’s employment, personal income, home prices, mortgage delinquency, tax revenue and the stock market.

Speaking of stocks, the 16 Idaho companies, that are tracked by Bloomberg that trade in the stock market saw a whopping 120% increase over the last year.

The other plus is that Idaho’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.1%, which is the lowest in the nation and over a percentage point less than the U.S. average.

So when you wonder why, year after year, Idaho’s population continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, this Bloomberg article should explain some of the reasons why that’s happening.  The population for the Treasure Valley is expected to hit 1 million people by 2030.  We are just under 700,000 now. Twenty years ago, the Treasure Valley was still under 500,000 people, so do the math...we could be over a million people even sooner if the economy stays this hot...so what I'm trying to say is get on board or get out of the way…here come’s Idaho!

 

 

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