North Dakota Has A Record Balance In Treasury
Published by gwen May 13th, 2008 in Business, Energy, Politics and Government.North Dakota treasurer Kelly Schmidt announced today that North Dakota has a $1 billion balance in its treasury, a record for the rural state. The press release gave some credit for the high balance to increases in interest income. Oil drilling and production in the Bakken formation surely play a part as well, along with energy production from wind farms and ethanol plants.
Thanks to Rob Port for bringing this one to my attention.
Let’s get real…Things like ethanol and wind farms have ZERO impact on this budget surplus. They contribute a net-nothing (likely negative considering subsidies) to the surplus… The state, to my knowledge, doesn’t collect any production or extraction tax revenues from industries like ethanol or wind… Old-fashioned black gold is by far the biggest driver of this surplus…