Reader comments
Guv stresses bright outlook

De Nile Runs Thru Utah | 3:37 a.m. March 29, 2008

So as I understand it, the guv is saying the Utah economy will be bad if we listen to the economic stories from the rest of the nation, and don't realize that we are DIFFERENT here.

It appears that most of the Utah boom over the last few years was fueled by building and buying and selling houses. I would say the Utah economy is even less diverse than many of the places that are hurting badly.

I could see Utah making a recovery, but only after a crash in the cost of housing to make it affordable again, or after some incredible technology was developed in Utah that produced free energy.

Sorry guv. Utah is different but Utah is not different when it comes to the economy.

Bob G | 3:54 a.m. March 29, 2008

Gov Huntsman must live in a cocoon, Utah has been in a repressed economy for decades with the lowest paying jobs and blatant exploition by the illegal aliens on our economy. The only element in Utahs economy that have prospered are the illegal foreign nationals being harbored and pampered by state and city governments. The best for Utah is yet to come, it's going to get worse whether this idiot of a governor is willing to tell the truth or not. Out state representation is so far out in left field that they are out of the stadium of reality. The only good paying secure jobs in Utah are if they work for the education system and government, city, state and federal. If it wasn't for government jobs in Utah income would be well below the poverty level. Poverty level jobs abound but who can live on them besides the illegal foreign nationals getting welfare and lie about their income and family status to get welfare? Citizen workers in Utah have been run out of their jobs and livelyhood and this is not bad? With 2.5 million people in Utah, 500,000+ are illegals preying on the rest of us.

I think it is | 7:43 a.m. March 29, 2008

Hate to burst your bubble Gov. Huntsman, but the economy here in Utah is also very bleak. You know it's bad when you go to a grocery store to buy a few essential items to sustain your family for maybe 3 days and it costs over $30.00. And I was even able to go thru the fewer then 15 item check out lane! So, yea it's bad here too!

Comments continue below

Bankrupt | 9:21 a.m. March 29, 2008

Gov Huntsman along with Doug Wright don't understand economics very well. Keeping a positive attitude about the Utah economy is not going to prevent and slowdown or recession. When money gets tight people will slow the spending.

As was stated above much of the Utah economy was being propped up by the housing market. With the housing slowdown Utah will be no different.

Isn't Utah near the top of the list on bankruptcies? Why would he encourage the citizens of Utah to keep up the spending when they are destroying their financial future in the process.

NO! It's not different here!

what world | 9:28 a.m. March 29, 2008

planet does the elite live on? Come on down to earth Gov. Daddy's money has kept you out of the gutter all your life so how would you relate to what the average Utah feels and knows? Time to quite haboring slave wage earners the illegals and truly respect and support your true voters of Utah, the taxpayer and citizen of America. Hey it looks like McCain likes Romney more than you

Pessimists | 9:30 a.m. March 29, 2008

You Pessimists need to chill. If you hate Utah so bad, move to California. The wages wouldn't be much higher, but the cost of living would. Utah offers plenty of good jobs, maybe you should try getting an education? Yeah, it's hard to feed your family working at McDonalds, but if you had some skill you could work somewhere else.

Utah has the lowest average population in the nation. This is why the average income per person is so low. Nothing is keeping you from staying here, so move.

hate to burst your bubble | 9:51 a.m. March 29, 2008

To "pessimists": California wages are far higher. I brought my California born business with me and live like a king in relatively poor Utah. I would not work for most of the wages here. I have sympathy for the native Utahns. Hopefully my business will continue to expand and I can hire some of them...and pay them a decent wage. My sister pays above average in a neighboring state and resulting worker loyalty and productivity allow her to stomp her competition. The race to the bottom is not always the smartest plan of action in business, dude.

TRICKERY | 10:04 a.m. March 29, 2008

He is trying to get people either to ignore it or send a message of ignore it.

This will sound too conspiracy-like for most people on here I imagine, but I've yet to find a better argument.

Politicians have the power to change things. The U.S. is capable of running as a country ought to run.

Democrats and Republicans have an agenda. They only see their own agenda so there is a lot of stonewalling. It's when their agenda matches that it gets really scary.

Few bills are passed with the common good of the people in mind. I don't think a revolution would fix this as some are starting to talk about in the anti-political world but rather a willingness of the people. The only thing that scares me about that is what will it take?

9-11 got people up a little bit because so many died. What will it take for Americans to realize that they have to actually not give the government any other choice but to fix what so many politicians have done. Our economy will crash before people listen enough. The U.S. is good, but the greedy take advantage and no one is stopping them.

Why "Guv"? | 10:45 a.m. March 29, 2008

Why does the Deseret News insist on always referring to the Governor as "Guv"? Would it be so difficult to simply say "Gov.", and thus have at least a little bit of respect for the office?

The Deseret News should seriously look at is style guide on this matter.

russ | 10:44 a.m. March 29, 2008

Come on, give the guy a break. He is a republican leader while Rome burns. He has to say everything is going to be beautiful.

Give the guy a break.

Utah County Resident (Original) | 11:33 a.m. March 29, 2008

The Utah economy may be doing fairly well, based on tax remittances to the State. However, there are warning signs across the country that could and will impact the Beehive State. Property prices and building costs are rising far and away above the economic ability of native Utahns to continue purchasing and building. The real estate industry is not able to get the job done in moving new homes that are on the market. New building projects are being burdened more and more with impact fees and other confiscatory assessments by local communities to fund an aging infrastructure to accomodate the housing expansion in the populated areas of the state. Also, it is alarming to see what is happening in the Ogden area regarding water aging water systems. Cities and counties across the state are way behind the curve in maintaining the infrastructure to handle the building boom. It is not doom and gloom, but I think the state and counties, and communities need to address these issues and not become bogged down with only the buzz thing of education funding....this is just shortsighted. Roads are in great need of repair and expansion. Banking soundness is a critical issue.

shortsighted | 12:31 p.m. March 29, 2008

Anybody remember 20 years ago? In 1988, Utah's economy was WORSE than that of the rest of the nation. Unemployment was high and people were leaving the state in droves. To suggest that Utah is immune is laughable at best, because again, things were WORSE in Utah than America as a whole throughout the 1980s.

Optimistic | 1:52 p.m. March 29, 2008

The economy is better in Utah than most states. In 2008, unemployment was under 2.0% The level of education is higher, honesty is higher, crime is less. The real indicator of whether or not we will prosper is, will we continue to be a value-based area. Governor Huntsman is a good man - and merits our trust.

Prepare | 2:00 p.m. March 29, 2008

Hope you have your food storage ready. There is alwasy a story or statement about how everything is going to be okay right before it flys apart. I have lived here all my life and these are relatively good times for Utah. But people should keep their heads up and eyes open. There are storm clouds on the horizon for the whole country.

Reality | 3:15 p.m. March 29, 2008

No one is going to be left untouched by the credit crisis especially since corporate America has utilized borrowing heavily for everything including hiring. 6 dollars of debt for every dollar of income is a lousy ratio in the best of times. Unfortunately I believe that we are only in the beginning of this crisis. The Federal reserve is attempting to save the banks with ridiculous amounts of liquidity and anyone that thinks they are going to pass on the savings to consumers is unbelievable.

The government is broke, corporate America is broke and consumers are as well. All that is standing between us and a total American financial meltdown is IOUs from Bernanke and friends. As long as the fed keeps printing more money and the masses blindly believe the Govt. line we'll be fine.

Some of our 'best and brightest' have no understanding for the underpining of this crisis and so the blind are leading the blind. So now the bankers and investors are pulling out their college textbooks to understand what is happening? Hardly an act of confidence by our so-called leaders.

Don't be surprised if your 401Ks, IRAs are going to be seized 'temporarily'

My2cents | 4:26 p.m. March 29, 2008

Despite the rosy bluster of our governor, I for one will be happy if we experience a slow down in our economy. We're growing too fast, and it's bringing people into UT who aren't necessarily making us better. The housing boom has brought a huge influx of illegals, who are quickly put to work. They may be "good" for business, but they're murder for the working man and educating their children is a major expense. That, and the rise in crime they generate isn't what I'd call positive growth. I'm also not sure we need any more "diversity." The Mormon, non-Mormon bashing that goes on in this state is ridiculous and counter-productive. However, there's little chance it will end. Maybe if we have several years of an economic slow down, we'll have time to catch our breaths.

Emily | 4:46 p.m. March 29, 2008

Isn't is possible to at least abbreviate Governor so it doesn't look like the editors are in Junior High??!

Jackie | 5:25 p.m. March 29, 2008

I think growth is a good thing (are you actually advocating a slow down that would result in higher unemployment and out migration?
..and no more "diversity"
Utah is right on top for most homogeneous state in the union, some of us LOVE diversity (at least the majority in SLC)
diversity is the world we live in (thank god)

Intolerance will result in the division you complain about and hurt Utah as a whole.

Optimistic? | 5:38 p.m. March 29, 2008

While unemployment numbers in Utah have been fantastic they haven't been under 2% for sometime. The lowest is went was 2.5% in mid 2006. Currently, it is 3%, which is still lower than the national rate of 4.8%. But the snapshot this information provides tells us nothing about the trends. And unemployment is trending up while employment growth is trending downward. No one is sure where these trends will take us, except that it isn't towards a better economy.

Orem Parent | 5:37 p.m. March 29, 2008

My family is doing well. We bought a very nice house before things went crazy. I have a steady, good paying job. My kids are doing well in school. The schools are full of dedicated teachers (that is the real miracle here in Utah..talk about wages!).

Utah is a great place to raise a family.

Just be smart. Don't buy on credit. Live close to where you work. Don't buy a house that is more than you need or can afford.

This coming from a former So Cal resident.

Simple really.

chark | 6:01 p.m. March 29, 2008

I agree about the style guide folks. Since when is it ok to use the slang of "Guv" and not "Gov." He earned the respect, plus I don't think the AP style guide would accept what you are doing.

Unbeliever | 6:33 p.m. March 29, 2008

An economy that outperforms the national for the last several years isn't necessarily good enough. Being uninformed does nothing to help local citizens. With below average wages, larger families "feel good statistics" like low unemployment rates are misleading. The long-term unemployed (now a record high for the college-educated group) don't get included. Check out the statistics at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov) which in its demographic section has a graph of the percentage of the population that is employed. It has been a whole lot lower under Bush than it was under Clinton. Just depends on what statistics you use to bolster your argument.

The good news will be when Utah wages rise and people start saving money again and prepare for emergencies and retirement. Those little bits of preparation for financial success are never mentioned by the governor.

We seem to be overdue for a significant economic revolution.

pkut | 10:21 p.m. March 29, 2008

the utah economy sucks and is much worse than the rest of the country. thats why our population is declining and moving to places like penn, NJ, NY, CA, MA, and MI. why can't we elect democrats like in those states because they're doing so well

Reality Check | 3:31 p.m. March 31, 2008

The naive comments really show selection bias at it's best. The majority of posters should spend more time looking for information rather than spouting whatever thought enters their myopic, near vacuous minds. Governor Huntsman has a handful of Economists advising him - what data backs up most of the outrageous claims made on this silly site...

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