This paper considers a range of time-related issues in the comparative empirical study of the American States. Examples are drawn from the key interrelationships between state educational attainment and state personal income, poverty, welfare programs, crime and public health. Traditional empirical analyses of data starting as early as 1940 are supplemented by animations showing how states have changed over time relative to each other. The empirical links posited by liberal advocates are strong and enduring. Greater educational attainment is linked to greater success in other important policy areas. Unfortunately, multiple important time horizons exist and conflict with each other. Enduring important regional differences and patterns of states changing over time raise additional challenges for both government officials and researchers.
