Washington D.C.: America's Richest City

Here's an illustration of what some call Babylon-By-the-Bay, i.e. a bloated federal state. America's capital is no Paris or London. Neither the economic heart nor culture capital of the nation. For centuries it was a backwater, literally: swamps and flies dominated this southern town. And even in the 1950s, as documented in the excellent memoir of the late Robert Novak, Washington was still a sleepy town. The fanciest hotel was really a broken down and dusty chamber.

Government was already growing rapidly in the '50s, but in the last half century has expanded to incredible heights so as now the federal budget accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP or what the entire U.S. economy produces in a year. And, add to this, federal workers are paid more than their private sector peers: The Bureau of Economic Analysis, a federal agency, documents how much money federal officials make more than the average private sector employee. Chart one is upfront pay, and Chart two is pay when factoring in benefits (such as health care) which are very generous for federal employees (H/T: Cato):

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The federal government employees 2.11 million people, both civilian and defense (meaning defense officials in the Pentagon not actual military infantry payroll). There are more people with security clearances from the Homeland Security Department than the entire population of Washington. Thus with such a redundant payroll amalgamated with higher pay it is not surprising that Washington now is the richest region in the nation:

Drawing on new census data, Newsweek finds that seven of the 10 richest counties in America, including the top three, are in the Washington area. Newsweek‘s former sister publication, the Washington Post, summarizes the data. Only three counties in the United States have a median household income over $100,000, and they’re all Washington suburbs.

As we’ve reported here before, these trends began even before the Obama administration started concentrating job creation on the federal sector. In the middle of the Bush bubble, the Washington Post reported:

The three most prosperous large counties in the United States are in the Washington suburbs, according to census figures released yesterday, which show that the region has the second-highest income and the least poverty of any major metropolitan area in the country.

Rapidly growing Loudoun County has emerged as the wealthiest jurisdiction in the nation, with its households last year having a median income of more than $98,000. It is followed by Fairfax and Howard counties, with Montgomery County not far behind.

Think about it. Washington's biggest export is bullshit. The capital has no major corporation to cite. Its buildings are dominated by federal agencies or lobbyists relying on federal dollars. It is not New York to Chicago or any other genuinely productive American city. But Washington is taxing the productive regions to finance its bloated state and redistribution of wealth. We hear so much about fat cats on Wall Street, but it is Fairfax not Long Island or the Upper West Side which is amongst the wealthiest countries or districts in the nation. Wall Street is no saint's domain, but at least it is a gain for the U.S. economy. But it should be unsettling that a city which produces nearly nothing in economic gain and only survives by taxing the productive parts of the nation now, through that taxing, has awarded itself the position of the wealthiest region. It is truly an exploitative capital. It is an undeserved status for people who mostly do not aid our economy but often burden it. And it is very unbecoming for America.