SWOT Analysis - Louisiana, USA
Weaknesses
Education
Louisiana was ranked #44 of the 50 states tested for grade 8 litteracy rates.
The Louisiana school system was graded "c" for its poor teaching and little to no accountability for the system.
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20120128/OPINION/120129588?p=2&tc=pg
The state of Lousiana projects that there will be challenges with a funding, The state already a budget deficit of almost a billion dollars.
http://www.ednexthorizon.org/assets/pdf/NextHorizon_TopIssues-longdocument.pdf
Effects of Hurricane Katrina
Lead to a rise in oil prices and inflation to the US economy.
Restoration of the hurricans after math effected United States tremendously because of reconstruction costs. There is an estimated 200,000 houses destroyed from the storm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_of_New_Orleans
Louisiana's unemployment rate is 9.1% and new job generation is very low. The southern states are around 9-11% for unemployment rates.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/53572.pdf
Economy of Southern States
Louisiana has an unemployment rate of 9.1% with no new job generation. Majority of southern states are in the 9-11% unemployment rate range.
http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/02/need-to-know-news-august-jobs-report-no-jobs-added-southern-states-on-alert-as-potential-storm-brews-in-gulf/
Job payrolls are monthly and show that work and salaries are inconsistent throughout the year.
Monthly Payrolls
Both the manufacturing production and the retail sales had decreased, aswell as a hault in the housing market .
Manufacturing production was flat, retail sales decreased, and the housing market continued its weakness in the southeastern states served by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Strengths
Economic Development
America's already well known as the most powerful player in the global economy because of its dominance in the majority of industrial, agricultural and service sectors.
Louisiana has a diverse economy that includes an advanced manufacturing base, growing biotech/life sciences and pharmaceutical sector, an emerging technology sector, a creative film and digital media inustry and many others.
http://www.nlep.org/Site-Selection-Key-Industries---Leading-Employers.aspx
Louisiana's economy ranked second-best for strength during the recession
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/louisianas_economy_ranked_seco.html
Development of cellulosic ethonol in Louisiana has potential to provide a cheap, more environmentally friendly type of fuel.
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/BC29EC77-DD79-41CC-9FD9-AD84541C41C1/54004/BiofuelIndustryFactSheet.pdf
Tourism/Entertainment Services
Food and agriculture in Louisiana is not only a huge part of their culture but reasoning for tourisim. The state is home to many world renowned restaurants and highly credited chefs, as well as great agriculture
Harvested Acres
No. 1 in sugar
No. 2 in rice and sweet potatoes
No. 9 in cotton and sorghum
Crop Production
No. 1 in crawfish
No. 2 in sweet potatoes and sugar
No. 2 in rice
No. 20th in sorghum
No. 9 in cotton
Louisiana has very safe and developed cities that make tourisim safer and more hospitable. Cites such Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lafayette have been credited as entertaining, safe and constantly improving its state.
Louisiana is well known for its rich history and famous events like Mardi Gras , its landmarks and stunning original architecture, and the states unique swamp like climate and geographic location. These features alone are reasons for high tourism in the state.
United States
US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products
The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $48,100
United States has a GDP of 14,660 billion dollars, second to the European Union. The country is without a doubt the most important player in the global economy today.
http://www.edc.ca/EN/Country-Info/Pages/United-States.aspx
Threats
Poor Foreign Relations
Fear of US's nuclear power accessibility is prominent and is known across the world.
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/33340/strobe-talbott/us-soviet-relations-from-bad-to-worse
Pakistan and other middle eastern countries have finished their co-operation with United States because of events.
Relations with the middle east continue to worsen as corruption and war still exist. The country has an "anti-american atmosphere"
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/22/144093130/u-s-and-pakistan-relations-from-bad-to-worse
Global Recession
United States has a trade deficit of 803 billion dollars.
Predictions are being made of United States collapsing as a nation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html
Japan is the highest creditor to United States aswell as other Asain nations because of the large amount of debt they owe for purchases.
The recent global recession is lead by United States due to high amounts of purchases of foriegn goods and services.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=1110
Debt
US's public debt is 69.4% of its GDP. If data generated from internal government debt of health care, treasury debt from foriegn entities, and debt from individual states it would increase 1/3'rd of GDP.
If data generated from internal government debt of health care, treasury debt from foriegn entities, and debt from individual states it would increase 1/3'rd of GDP.
United States current account balance for global debt is ranked 198 at -$599,900,000,000 behind Italy (-$77,800,000,000).
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html
In the fiscal year of 2009, the deficit was 1.42 trillion; triple of the previous year's deficit of global debt.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/10/620000005/1
Oppportunities
Oppourtunity for Success in Louisiana Small Business
Subtopic
Different types of harnessing energy like solar panels, hydro or wind power, along with creation of biofuels from rich agriculture give them many sources of power as well as energy available to sell.
Louisianna was the quickest state to recover from the recession because of its creative small businesses and attractive tourism/services.
http://www.louisianaeconomicdevelopment.com/incentives--programs.aspx
Export Trading
The US is the 4th highest exporter in the world with exports of 1.511 trillion estimated for 2011
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
United States is a member of WTO, part of the NAFTA free trade agreement and has other FTA's establised between them and 17 different countries.
http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements
The United States made a 12% increase in exports from 2010-2011 for Trade with Canada. A continued estimated growth is expected to be 7-8% for 2012.
Foriegn Relations
http://www.edc.ca/EN/Country-Info/Documents/united-states.pdf
The US owns 20% of market share in the global economy.
A rise of 1.7% to the US real GDP shows that foriegn trade remains strong and is making improvements.
United States foriegn relations usually remain constant regarding their trade to and from international markets.
