The growth of the federal government sucks resources away from productive pursuits and allocates it to lobbying, subsidy-suckling, compliance lawyers, and seeking federal contractors. I call it the Gilded Age in the imperial city.
Roll Call carries the depressing news:
“We are incredibly resilient as a city because we have a federal government that plays a huge role in that,” explained Julia Christian, executive director of the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals. “People are here for most of the year, and the city has to function no matter what.”
The numbers help tell that story: D.C. ranked 35th in rate of population growth from 2000 to 2010, according to the Census Bureau. It also experienced faster growth than any state from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, netting a 2.7 percent population increase.
The numbers help tell that story: D.C. ranked 35th in rate of population growth from 2000 to 2010, according to the Census Bureau. It also experienced faster growth than any state from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, netting a 2.7 percent population increase.
Stephen Fuller at GMU, as usual, breaks it down:
It’s important to note that the federal government itself isn’t growing and is unlikely to grow much in the years ahead, said Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University. But that doesn’t mean the government isn’t an economic magnet. “We still have lobbyists, the Congressional workforce, we still have associations and special interests groups and tourism, of course,” Fuller said. “I think we are somewhat protected here. The federal government is a safety net. It protects us.”
