BURIED in the thundering avalanche of scary economic news late last year was this tidbit: While the rest of the Northeast halted its population drain and renewed its growth, Rhode Island continued to bleed.

To quote a Dec. 23 editorial in The Detroit Free Press (“Many leaving for other states”): “Michigan . . . was one of just two states to shrink even as the nation continued to grow. The other was Rhode Island, which is already tiny and occasionally nipped Michigan this year for the dubious distinction of leading the nation in unemployment.”

Somehow, I don’t think Governor Carcieri’s Economic Development Corporation will be pressing that one in its scrapbook of golden memories. But that was just one page from a mountain of bad international press we got last year as a state in the throes of severe problems.

More ominous are some of the internal census numbers. Between July 2007 and July 2008, there were about 3,600 births in Rhode Island, and 2,900 people who moved in, some from foreign countries. But that could not offset the 8,800 who fled to other states — including many educated people and members of the middle class.

The voters left behind in Rhode Island seemed to be mostly content with this. In the November election, they voted for more of the same treatment — only harder — by throwing out the ragged remnants of an opposition party.

But surely there are policymakers who recognize the disaster that is unfolding. The flight of the middle class and its tax dollars — a development long warned about on these pages — is placing an intolerable strain on state and local governments, fueling massive deficits that threaten our quality of life.

If our politicians act the way they have in the past, they will try to “fix” this problem with a combination of “temporary” tax hikes and IOUs to public employees that will prove to be even more costly when it comes time to cash them in.

That will only hasten Rhode Island’s decline.

The real problem is that Rhode Island has a hole in the bottom of its bucket. Given the flight of taxpayers, wealth is leaking out of the rusty bucket faster than the government can fill it up with temporary “fixes.”

The politicians need to plug the hole, not just throw more money into the bucket.

What would seal it — keep the middle class here, and even grow it?

Jobs, first and foremost, and a combination of closely related things: competitive taxes, public schools focused on students, and government that serves the general interest, not so much the special interests and NIMBYs.

In short, Rhode Island must reinvent itself. That is no easy task, but it is hard to see an alternative.

Let’s look at some of these areas.

• Jobs: Government can only do so much. The most effective way government can grow jobs is to create a tax and regulatory climate that nurtures private-sector entrepreneurs and small businesses. In national studies, Rhode Island has consistently had one of the worst business-tax and regulatory climates in America. That has to change.

But there are things the government can do in the area of developing economic infrastructure. One is to take advantage of our extraordinary opportunities for Quonset Point, one of the best locations for a major deep-water port on the Eastern Seaboard, and with superb highway, railroad and air connections.

A booming port would not only create high-paying jobs on site, but also ripple through the economy by boosting trade and lowering transportation costs. Yet NIMBYs have been able to block this vital development.

• Taxes. See above. At the very least, Rhode Island’s should be competitive with those of its neighbors. To its credit, the General Assembly, under the leadership of House Speaker William Murphy, has made some progress in the area of income taxes.

• Schools. Rhode Island has some of the most expensive, yet poorly performing, public schools in the country. The answers are clear — greater accountability, rewards for good teachers, high standards, a greater focus on serving students — but some of the state’s most powerful special interests doggedly oppose reform. One very hopeful sign is the “mayoral academy” concept to be tested under the leadership of Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee, who was targeted for defeat by organized labor for daring to seek change. (He won.)

• Good government. Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling, Rhode Island is poised to implement separation of powers at last, which should undermine conflicts. Still, the state remains shockingly opposed to such simple reforms as getting rid of the straight-ticket lever, a legacy of corrupt machine politics that better-run states have ditched in the interest of more competitive elections and healthier government. It must also stop giving away the store to special interests.

It isn’t pleasant to write these columns over and over. Editorial writers are expected to be local boosters, troweling on the happy talk whenever possible. Questioning powerful people and institutions earns one more enemies than friends.

But Rhode Island, a wonderful place with great potential, needs to change its policies, and quickly. The new year marks a good time to start.

Edward Achorn is The Journal’s deputy editorial-pages editor ( eachorn@projo.com).