No doubt you have read or heard about a recent report from Northern Economic Consulting (Dick Heaps) regarding the economic and fiscal impacts of Vermont Yankee (paid for by the IBEW local).
The author found enormous benefits to the state from the jobs at the plant. If all the workers lived in Vermont, that might be true. It is my understanding, however, that 60% of them do NOT live in Vermont. This is critical because the impacts include the wages spent by workers and their families (direct), as well as the multiplier effects from the circulation of the money in the local economy (indirect & induced). Since so many workers live out of state, it is a certainty that they spend most of their money outside Vermont and the multiplier effects follow.
Therefore, it appears that the report’s findings about the economic and fiscal benefits of Vermont Yankee are grossly exaggerated.
I am very familiar with their creative number-crunching on behalf of the folks at Walmart. Some might opine that they have a habit of excluding inconvenient factors from their reports in order to come up with an outcome that suits the customer’s agenda.
That our lives must be controlled by professional liars – there is no alternative.
And, our lives will be so controlled until we are willing to evangelize with all the passion that Mammon’s servants have. Until we have a burning desire to reach everyone, we will fail.