Kansas economy has been underperforming

Those who call for a return to the economic policies of past Kansas gubernatorial administrations may not be aware of the performance of the Kansas economy during those times.

There are a variety of ways to measure the economic performance of states and countries. Job growth is one. Output, or gross domestic product, is another.

The nearby chart contains two views of GDP for Kansas and nearby states. Kansas is the dark line. The charts shows GDP for private industries only. (By using the interactive visualization, you can show other industries, time periods, and states.)

The top chart shows the percentage change in GDP from the previous year. The bottom chart shows the cumulative growth in GDP since 1997. Both charts illustrate that the performance of the Kansas economy is nothing to crow about, and it’s been that way for a long time.

You may use the visualization yourself. Click here to open it in a new window. There are other visualizations of data, including jobs creation by states, available here.