Maryland's addiction to federal spending
Today's column is about where the Maryland/Baltimore economy goes from here now that Black & Decker is getting bought by Stanley Works and its corporate headquarters will disappear in Towson. I would have written a different headline. Editors wrote: "Losing Black & Decker a bad sign for Md. business." Black & Decker's departure doesn't say much if anything about the state business climate. It was a business deal pure and simple and would have turned out this way no matter what the tax/regulatory/labor complexion of Maryland was.
Dan Rodricks wrote about the campaign by Black & Decker a few years ago to change Maryland's apportionment formula for the income tax. That sure didn't keep B&D happy. CEO Nolan Archibald closed their plant in Easton and now he's sold the company to Stanley.
The column concludes: "The fact that Black & Decker didn't bolt because of Maryland's business climate doesn't mean it doesn't matter. What do we do when the federal money dries up?"
