U.S. by the Numbers: Figuring What's Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (Capital Ideas for Business & Personal Development) [Paperback]

Raymond J. Keating (Author)

Book Description

Series: Capital Ideas for Business & Personal Development | Publication Date: August 2000

"U.S. by the Numbers" looks at literally hundreds of indicators--taxes, budgets, education, crime, the economy and business, demographic trends, politics and government, the environment, health care, and other societal and lifestyle areas--to reveal how each state and the country as a whole measure up to the rest of the world as we enter a new century. Through quick, easy-to-digest statistical charts and graphs, they examine which states are involved most effectively in the "Entrepreneurial Revolution," where private enterprise and ingenuity take on the challenges of providing public services. They also look at which states perform well in terms of crime, taxes and education….which states carry the heaviest government spending and debt burdens…where economic growth and job creation are robust and where they lag… which states spend the most on the environment, which have the highest abortion rate, and much, much more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this book will be the bible for elected officials who are serious about nurturing an environment favorable to economic opportunity..." -- Karen Kerrigan, chairman, Small Business Survival Committee

About the Author

Raymond J. Keating and Thomas N. Edmonds are th authors of D.C. by the Numbers: A State of Failure and Keating's second books, New York by the Numbers: State and City in Perpetual Crisis. Mr. Keating, who lives in New York, is a weekly columnist with Newsday and serves as chief economist for the Washington, DC-based Small Business Survival Committee. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, and the Washington Post. Mr. Edmonds is a nationally recognized Washington, DC political consultant and past president of the 1,000-member, bipartisan, American Association of Political Consultants.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 948 pages
• Publisher: Capital Books; 1st edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892123142
• ISBN-13: 978-1892123145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,589,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Resource, July 10, 2000

By 

David G. Bowser (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: U.S. by the Numbers: Figuring What's Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (Capital Ideas for Business & Personal Development) (Paperback)

This book should be well worn and highlighted thoroughly within weeks, then placed right on the shelf next to the dictionary and thesaurus as an invaluable reference guide. US By the Numbers contains invaluable, concise, and well organized information complete with visually appealing and easy to comprehend graphs to emphasize their points. This book is not just for statisticians, policy wonks, or professors - it is a must read for entrepreneurs, voters, and students.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facts are stuborn things, July 6, 2000

By 

Adam Dubitsky (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: U.S. by the Numbers: Figuring What's Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (Capital Ideas for Business & Personal Development) (Paperback)

We are inundated by polls these days, gauges of what we feel about everything from our culture to tax rates to how our state and nation are doing relative to other states and nations. U.S. by the Numbers blasts through these feelings with cold hard facts presented in a compelling and easy to follow format.

Edmonds and Keating provide an amazing array of statistics on every aspect of American life from children's TV viewing habits, to tax rates, to healthcare spending, to education levels, to abortion rates. Readers can quickly find out how their state ranks in hundreds of categories making U.S. by the Numbers required reading for voters looking to sort out fact from fiction this election year.

The facts presented also blow gaping holes in conventional wisdom: States with the lowest per pupil spending and largest classrooms often have the best education results. States with the smallest police forces per capita are often the safest. In fact, far more often than not, the states that spend the most nearly always have not only the least, but worse results.

Most disturbing are the statistics involving our nation's capital, the District of Columbia: DC taxes are the highest in the nation - 76 % higher than the US average. DC's welfare spending is highest in nation - 196 % higher than average. DC's spending per pupil is 3rd highest in nation yet student proficiency ranks in the bottom 10 when compared to the 50 states. DC spends more money per capita on police protection than any state yet the crime rate is the worst in the nation.

Readers of any political stripe will come away from U.S. by the Numbers wondering just where all their hard earned tax dollars are going.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating, January 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: U.S. by the Numbers: Figuring What's Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (Capital Ideas for Business & Personal Development) (Paperback)

Rock solid analysis of the economy, the nation and each state from a free market, conservative point of view. Lot's of great numbers, charts and graphs.