It's all relative

摘要

Rising above the fields of Nevada, Iowa, advertised proudly as America's 26th-best small town, is an ethanol refinery. The air around is thick with the smell of yeast. Each day lorries drive up and park above a large grate, corn pouring from their bellies like milk from a cow, the kernels falling below to begin their transformation into ethanol. To see Lincolnway Energy is to recall Iowa's better days. Last year two ethanol companies filed for bankruptcy. Others have slowed production.rnIowa has not been immune to America's malaise. Important sectors such as manufacturing and business services have shed thousands of jobs. The state's unemployment toll in February was 26% higher than a year earlier. Chet Culver, Iowa's governor, is anxious to pass his own stimulus package to augment Washington's. Yet the gloom is only relative. Iowa's unemployment rate has risen, but it was still only 4.9% in February. The national average was 8.1% (and is now 8.5%). Michigan would love to have Iowa's problems.