Ready, Disclaim, Fire
Earlier today, newly-elected Michigan Governor Rick Snyder released his “Citizens’ Guide to Michigan’s Economic Health.” The general purpose was to provide an easy-to-understand presentation of the state’s finances, and to encourage local governments to do the same. These are of course laudable goals, but one of the report’s major findings, also mentioned in the governor’s press release, was a familiar one:
Average annual compensation of state employees (including salary, wages, and benefits) was over twice the average annual compensation of private sector workers in 2009.
As might be expected, many reporters and editors dutifully ran this outrage-inspiring finding as a headline (alsohere and here), even before the report was officially released: State workers make twice as much as private sector workers. Governor Snyder rolled out the report as part of his presentation to the Business Leaders for