Monday, July 12, 2010

Brain Drain Report: Wyoming

Apparently, the taxes are too high and the business climate is lousy in Wyoming:

Wyoming, like many rural states, has seen a "brain drain" of some of our most able and talented young people, who leave the state for their education and never come back because they cannot find work in their field of expertise. Heidi knew she wanted to return to Wyoming and that she would have to create her own opportunities.

Bloated government and too much public spending pushes talent out.

1 comment:

Samaber said...

Actually, coming from a Pittsburgher who spent 6 months living and working in western Wyoming, I can tell you that there is no such thing as bloated government in Wyoming. In fact, they are so anti-government involvement, it borders on anarchy.

The problem in Wyoming is that the economy offers two types of jobs: working in the oil and gas fields or ranching. Oil and gas create jobs for uneducated workers, but also for engineers and high-minded science types. Perhaps the science and math talent of former Wyomingites hasn't caught up with the demands of the oil and gas industry.

There's also the fact that smart people might not want to live in Wyoming. They might, after leaving, acquire a taste for towns larger than Casper and Cheyenne, which each have about 50,000 people.