.From Robert Whitcomb's Dec. 29 "Digital Diary'' column in GoLocal24.com.
SomeNew Englandpublic-sector economic-development officials and business leaders say that they’re worried about slow population growth in New England; in Connecticut the population has actually slipped a bit in recent years. Well, we can always use more highly trained people to staff the many sophisticated enterprises in our region, and we need more young adults, but I have heard these tales of woe about New England’s sluggish population growth –among the lowest of any states in America – for decades and yet New England continues to be among the the richest parts of the U.S.
And it’s hard to argue that the world needs more people! Indeed, the swelling human population is destroying the planet’s eco-system at an accelerating rate. One of the nice things about New England is that it has less of the new sprawl and mess of the rapidly growing South, most of which remains the poorest part of the country and whose sparse social services are heavily subsidized by the richer, better run and more humane Northeast.
Rhode Island, for its part, is likely to lose a congressional seat because of its sluggish population growth. That’s just as well. The state would be better off merged with Massachusetts anyway.
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