re: Southern Economies at a glance

Skippy, it's all about context. From your Forbes link:

quote:

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Since 2007 New Orleans’ population has grown 28% to 370,000. Many are newcomers who came, at least initially, to rebuild the city. But the city is still way below the 2002 population of 472,000, much less its high of 628,000 in 1960.

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Good news....in 2060, N.O. might be as big as it was in 1960.

The same holds true for N.O. Murder Rate
On the surface, folks trumpet the improvement....but look a little closer and you'll see:

quote:

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The estimated 2013 rate of more than 40 killings for every 100,000 people remains more than eight times the national average.
New Orleans has for years jockeyed with other infamously bloody places for the highest per capita rate of killings, and it is unlikely to lose its spot among America’s most murderous cities. The city placed third in 2012, after Flint, Mich., and Detroit, both of which saw similar reductions in killings this year, according to local news accounts.

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N.O. has always been and will always be the armpit of the South.