In June the Bureau of Economic Analysis released new personal income data for the first quarter of 2011. Oklahoma’s private sector share of personal income for the first quarter of 2011 was at 64.5 percent—or 6.9 percent smaller than the national average. While this is the highest point since the second quarter of 2009, the private sector has essentially been moving sideways. Higher prices for oil and natural gas have certainly helped fuel this spike in the private sector—with growth faster than the national average—but it remains to be seen if this will continue.

Since the beginning of the “Great Recession,” the major culprit behind this crowding out of the private sector has been the Orwellian “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” (ARRA).