Gold rush: City's economy larger than Alaska's
Gold rush: City's economy larger than Alaska's

IF Oklahoma City were a state, its economy would be bigger than that of Alaska and four other states, taken individually. By one measure, the city's gross metropolitan product (GMP) in 2005 was $43.1 billion, compared with $39.3 billion for Alaska's gross state product.

By another measure, Oklahoma City's GMP for 2005 ranked it 51st among metro areas in the country. Our friends in Tulsa weren't as fortunate, with a ranking of 62nd — still large enough to outrank the entire states of South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming or North Dakota, but not Alaska.

Citing figures from the economic analysis firm of Global Insight, the Greater Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce says Oklahoma City's growth between 2001 and 2005 was 33 percent, higher than the growth rates for Kansas City, Mo., Nashville and San Antonio, among others. The 33 percent growth rate compares with 23 percent for the nation as a whole during the same period.

The $43.1 billion figure cited above represented 35.4 percent of Oklahoma's gross state product in 2005. This isn't the only measure of success that has the chamber crowing these days. Between June 2006 and the comparable month of 2007, employment grew by 3.1 percent with the addition of 17,700 jobs. This represents the lion's share of the whole state's job creation.

Yes, we've heard the cliche about how figures lie and liars figure, and a less positive economic report may be just around the corner. But Oklahoma City is obviously cooking with gas these days. So bragging about it isn't just hot air.

Is this a great country or what! You say something offensive that's heard by millions, lose your radio show — then walk away with a boatload of cash. Shock jock Don Imus apparently has done just that in a settlement with CBS Radio, his former employer. CBS fired Imus in April after he used a racial slur to refer to the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The settlement, reportedly worth $20 million, essentially clears the way for Imus to work again, more controversial — and marketable — than ever. Great work if you can get it.

The Army recorded its highest suicide rate in 26 years in 2006, with more than one out of four soldiers who killed themselves doing so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a new report showing that 99 soldiers committed suicide last year, including 28 deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The report found "limited evidence” that repeat combat deployments increase the risk of suicide. Failed relationships, stress, and legal and financial problems were cited as major contributors. At a minimum, the statistics underscore the need for better pay, top-flight medical and psychological care and other support services for troops and their families.

In Shawnee, Tucker Brown is practicing for a fifth season of football. Brown injured a leg early last season, which caused him to miss class time that he has to make up this semester in order to receive his diploma. So he sought another semester of eligibility, and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association granted it earlier this year. Brown isn't the first athlete and won't be the last to get such a do-over. Although the OSSAA grants them rarely, we wonder why this is even an option at all. Sports are supposed to be a complement to high school, nothing more. Four years of ball is enough. The OSSAA ought to consider ditching this rule.

If Las Vegas can have its own New York City "skyline” and Disneyland its Magic Kingdom, why not a Chinatown built from scratch? That's what's planned in Germany. The Futurist magazine reports that a $700 million project will create a potential tourist-drawing Chinatown in a city north of Berlin. Investors, including some from China, are sweet on the deal. Despite being home to 72,000 people of Chinese descent, Germany hasn't had a Chinatown since the early 1930s in Hamburg, the magazine says, from which most of the city's 2,000 Chinese residents fled or were rounded up by the Nazis. It's thus fitting — or perhaps sourly ironic — that the new Chinatown will be built near the site of a former concentration camp.

Some statistics are best taken while sitting down. Newsweek business columnist Robert J. Samuelson writes that none of the 2008 presidential candidates is talking much about the biggest elephant in the room: growing federal entitlements. From 2005 to 2030, the 65-and-older population will nearly double to 71 million Americans, Samuelson writes. As a result Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, if unchanged, will swallow 75 percent of the present federal budget. Balancing the budget with existing programs at their current levels will require hair-raising tax increases of 30 percent to 50 percent. It's a scenario a YouTuber or two should raise at the next debate.

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