Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox on Tuesday touted statistics released by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis that showed the city’s metro area had experienced the largest GDP growth rate in the Southeast for 2017.
However, a review of the published data showed that Tuscaloosa’s GDP growth was mostly driven by the resurgence of its “natural resources and mining” sector after Republican leadership ended the Obama administration’s job-killing environmentalist reign and the “War on Coal.”
In Obama’s second term in office, Maddox-led Tuscaloosa and its surrounding area experienced negative real GDP growth through 2016. It shot up after President Trump took office to the tune of 5.3 percent growth, however, that was carried by 4.41 percent natural resources and mining growth.
Even with the booming University of Alabama providing increased economic growth in the city year-after-year, the Tuscaloosa metro area experienced negative growth rates of -2.6 percent in 2014 and -3.1 percent in 2016.
As Alabama’s economy surges under Governor Kay Ivey and President Donald Trump’s leadership, Maddox should be thankful for their policies lifting up Tuscaloosa. However, he seems intent on taking the credit, boasting his own job performance while dismissing Ivey’s successes as flukes.
While the November 6 General Election will serve as the ultimate referendum on Ivey and Maddox’s respective claims of executive prowess, one thing is for sure: if Maddox’s preferred presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, would have won in 2016, the Tuscaloosa area would not be experiencing the economic growth that it is.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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