Well I've recently received confirmations of my bias for living in Utah, although whether or not Utah is the "Best State in America" may be in the eyes of the beholder. My wife and I recently relocated from Southern California and I must admit, I've been very pleasantly surprised. Here are some interesting Utah-centric stats:
UTAH FIGHTING TO BE #1 IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The University of Utah's Ute were the only team to go undefeated in the 2008-2009 season. The Bowl Championship Season (BCS) is now under scrutiny since the likes of Obama and Senator Orrin Hatch have been critical of potential "anti-trust" issues. So,
depending on who you talk to, Utah is number one in college football too.
UTAH IS THE HAPPIEST STATE IN AMERICA
Lots of internet porn and the best economic outlook in the United States, does that lead to happiness? Not necessarily, however in a recent survey of Americans' well-being, conducted by Gallup. Hawaii was second and Wyoming third when rating such things as mental, physical and economic health. This may need to be tempered with the fact that Utah also ranks high in anti-depressant use too.
UTAH #1 FOR STRICTEST ALCOHOL LAWS
Even the current Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, thought Utah's "membership" laws are "kooky". Basically, you had to purchase a membership for every bar you patronize. In effect, it's like a government mandated cover-charge. I am using the "past-tense" in describing this aspect of the law since there have been recent sweeping changes to the Utah liquor laws. However, the liquor stores are still all state-owned and you cannot buy alcohol on Sundays...
UTAH #1 PORNO CONSUMER IN U.S.A...
Wow, I just moved from the pornography production capital of America (Southern California) only to find myself in the internet pornography consumer capital of the America, Utah!
Before becoming a professional hypnotist, I was a financial mathematician working in investment banking. As such, I often found myself reading academic economics journals. Well, imagine my surprise while reading the latest edition of the Journal of Economic Perspectives where I found out that the mecca of Mormonism is also the leading consumer of internet porn:
"Controlling for broadband access, states show remarkable similarity in their subscription quantities, as shown in Table 2. Dividing state subscription counts by the FCC’s Broadband Deployment quantities, the most-subscribing state is Utah (where 5.47 of every 1,000 broadband households subscribed to the service at issue), while the least-subscribing state is Montana (1.92 per 1000 broadband households)."
As a hypnotist, I help people control all sorts of compulsive, self-destructive behaviors. Of course the success rate of hypnosis with weight-loss and stopping smoking is well documented, but it is also highly effective for other problems, including sexual ones.
For example, not only can hypnotism help those that want to gain control over a compulsive internet porn-watching habit, a master hypnotist can also help women remove those mental blocks that prevent them from experiencing the "Big O".
Hypnosis improved the sexual function of men too, according to the British Journal of Urology, It cured erectile dysfunction, that could not be linked to physical causes, at a rate of 75%. Hypnosis outperformed both testosterone AND trazodone [British Journal of Urology. 77(2):256-60, 1996].
In a second study, the Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology, again erectile dysfunction that could not be linked to physical causes was successfully treated by hypnosis. Again, three out of every four men in the trial were helped [Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology. 31: 271-4, 1997.
Well, whether you are proud of this "Utah PORNO phenomenon" or not, we can certainly be proud of this new statistic that I just read about (especially in a market as dire as this one):
UTAH #1 IN ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS
According to analysis by the American Legislative Exchange Council's Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Utah is the blue ribbon winner! The winners were ranked this way, "[g]enerally speaking, states that spend less, especially on income transfer programs, and states that tax less, particularly on productive activities such as working or investing, experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more" (p. 21).
To be honest I had fair warning things may unfold like this, and that's why I am here. Most students of Austrian business cycle theory and the Federal Reserve System knew of the coming crisis years ahead of time. Back in 2006 I was working at the now nationalized Indymac Bank when a nice report from HSBC economists Ian Morris andRyan Wang crossed my desk. It was called A Froth-Finding Mission: Detecting U.S. Housing Bubbles.
I had long been vocal about the impending mortgage credit implosion but when I found the all senior finance executives to be indifferent and/or willfully ignorant, the warning bells started really going off. I immediately began looking for an exit route (not just from the banking industry but California as well)!
In my view, the real answer to this financial crisis is not to be found in a bailout, or even in Obama. The solution lies in things that the government and politicians know little about, honesty and kindness (i.e. trust) and productive creativity (i.e., entrepreneurship). We must start not just holding our representatives in government accountable, but each and everyone of us must look inside and start to create things of value to each other and be honest in our dealings. PERIOD. Do that and everything will turn around fine. Don't and the current trend will continue...
The Froth-Finding report consistently showed Utah to be a "Bubble-free" zone and as I did further research on my own, I figured out Salt Lake City would be the right place for my family. The more things get worse, the happier I am with my decision.
UTAH #1 IN VANITY IN AMERICA?
In 2008, Salt Lake City was voted "America's Vainest City" by Forbes.com.
"Though there are at least 591 plastic surgeons in New York City, there were four per 100,000 people. Salt Lake City had only 45 surgeons but a total of six per 100,000 people."
UTAH #1 IN AMERICA?
Well it certainly seems that one could reasonably argue that Utah is currently the best state to live here in America. The strongest economic outlook, the happiest people, the looser liquor laws, and (ahem) the vigorous appetites here make Utah a very attractive place to live in 2009. I am excited to see how 2010 shapes up!
