New research compares economic and social conditions in US states—and highlights opportunities for government leaders to help make improvements.
Faced with tight budgets and rising expectations from citizens, US state governments are constantly challenged to find ways of improving economic and social conditions for residents. To help leaders uncover solutions, we have developed an index for evaluating state outcomes that draws on three sources: a database containing more than 50 years’ worth of state spending records, a broad survey asking citizens how satisfied they are with state governments’ services, and measurements of economic and social well-being in seven categories (Exhibit 1).
