Third Year Running: North Dakota Best-Run State -- 24/7 Wall Street -- December 4, 2014

Link here.

North Dakota is 24/7 Wall St.’s best-run state for a third consecutive year.

People have been flocking to North Dakota: more than 5% of the population in 2013 had migrated from another state or country since 2010.

One reason for this is the surging economy. Last year, the state's GDP rose by 9.7%, the most in the nation. Much of this growth came from the mining industry, which includes oil and gas extraction. In recent years, oil extraction in North Dakota has grown exponentially, driven by drilling in the Bakken formation. This has made the state the second largest oil producer behind Texas. Job growth has also been rapid. North Dakota’s 2.9% unemployment rate was the lowest in the nation last year.

The trick will be if North Dakota can be among the top three one year from now; it's going to be a tough year based on "reading the tea leaves."

Surprisingly, Minnesota is #5 and Texas is #8.

And before folks say it all has to do with energy, note that Pennsylvania is #36, worse than New York, Connecticut, and California:

Pennsylvania’s economy demonstrated little growth in 2013, as GDP grew by just 0.7%, or less than all but a few other states. This was despite the state's ongoing natural gas boom. Natural gas production in the state exceeded more than 3 trillion cubic feet last year. This was more than any other state except Texas. The state’s finances also contributed to its mediocre rank. Pennsylvania had a pension funded ratio of less than two-thirds of the present value of its liabilities as of 2013, worse than in the majority of states. Also, Moody’s recently downgraded Pennsylvania’s debt from Aa2 to Aa3, highlighting “the commonwealth's growing structural imbalance, exacerbated by the fiscal 2015 enacted budget that depends on non-recurring resources.”

With all that, it's hard to believe Pennsylvania makes the list as high as 36. I hate to think how the states "below" 36 are doing. By the way, Bakken crude oil "saved" one or two or three Pennsylvania refineries, I believe.

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Police Brutality Protests

Being tweeted across the nation right now: multiple "police brutality" protests in major cities across the nation.  -- 11:24 p.m. CT, December 4, 2014.