In its annual ranking of the most business-friendly U.S. states, CNBC is getting mocked for its “Quality of Life” scores that concludes the 10 worst states to live in are Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, and Tennessee.
It didn’t go unnoticed that list is all deep-red conservative states, including several exploding with population growth.
CNBC's own story explained why: It is placing "increasing emphasis" on that "Quality of Life" category, which is 11% of a state's ranking. That is why CNBC seemed to punish conservative states if they don’t defend "reproductive rights," meaning liberal abortion laws, and legal protections for transgender people.
Other factors in that category include childcare, crime rates, and air quality.
Media analyst Bill D'Agostino, of Media Research Center, told American Family News that CNBC is playing a political game with biased data.
“You design a seemingly objective rating system that is, in fact, not objective at all and entirely based on left-wing sensibilities,” he said of the state rankings.
For this story AFN compared the CNBC state ranking to the annual U-Haul Growth Index that tracks population migration based on customer rentals for its famous orange trucks. That rental rate shows four of those 10 low-ranking states make the list for exploding population growth, with Texas ranking No. 1.
Ironically, CNBC ranks Texas as No. 4 among the “Top States for Business,” including ranking first for its workforce and second for its bustling economy. But its deep-red political climate, viewed as a negative by CNBC, ranked it 49th for “Quality of Life.”
According to CNBC, Tennessee is at the very bottom at No. 50 for “Quality of Life” at the same time the U-Haul survey shows it ranked No. 4 for growth.
Last month, Tennessee officials pushed back on "Pride Month" by declaring June as "Nuclear Family Month."
Bottom-ranked Arkansas similarly recognized June as "Fidelity Month" to celebrate "fidelity to God, family, community, and country.”
The top U.S. state for “Quality of Life” is Vermont, CNBC insists, even though Vermont ranks in the mid-30s for business infrastructure, workforce, economy, and cost of doing business. It ranks 48th for technology and innovation.
D'Agostino said CNBC’s definition of “Quality of Life” versus U-Haul tracking population growth reminds him of Paul Samuelson, the 1930s economist.
Samuelson, who studied how consumers spend their money, concluded actions speak louder than words in a free market that gives people the freedom to choose.
“This is the principle of ‘revealed preference’ versus ‘stated preference’,” D’Agostino said.
