The only thing that can sustain high wages is. . .

[cannon_fodder]

I read this on an economists blog and could have sworn he was thinking of Tulsa.  Low wages in most areas, largely unskilled or under-skilled workforce, economic incentives used to draw in call centers.  I think we (Tulsa) are heading in the right direction with free community college, improving OSU Tulsa, and paying more attention to TPS as well as selling Tulsa as a community instead of bribing Citgo to stay (or the like)..

Sell the communities assets to attract business.  If those assets do not include a skill set that has high wages, work to change the skill set.  Make it so businesses can make money in your city and so skilled workers are trained here and/or want to live here.  Throw in some business development help for locally grown firms (government help with basic knowledge, what permits they need, etc. - not bribes to start a business) and our home grown economy should take care of us.

Anyway, I saw this blurb and agree 100%.  

- - -

The only thing that can sustain high wages is high skill.

The American Way "The only thing that can sustain high wages is high skills"
Michigan is discovering that the quality of a state's educational system determines the relative earnings power of its residents. And we're quite clearly in a time when well-educated and highly-skilled people are in high demand -- and unskilled people are of rapidly-diminishing use to most firms. It's time to end the delusion of modern "economic development" incentives and get back to holding government accountable for taking care of basic infrastructure and good schools. If those are in place, then a skilled workforce will result, which will do a magnificent job -- on its own -- of attracting businesses, as well as developing new ones. Trust organic economic growth -- that is, growth that takes place because the economic environment is right. Distrust any business that has to be bribed to move in -- or bribed to keep from moving out.

- Written by Brian Gongol.  Posted on Gongol.com.

[Hometown]

I would add that in addition to building our human resources we would be wise to focus on industries that pay well and luckily we already have a critical mass in the energy business.  It pays well.

[Gaspar]

Absolutely.  I think the trend has been strongly influenced by the "international" outsourcing of the unskilled mindless labor jobs, and the decline of union power.

We are also a more attractive community when our young people value skill and expertise over "occupational entitlement."

I remember my 20's living in the heart of a union town where most of my friends worked at the GM plant just like their fathers did, and put no value on their education or personal development (beyond how much beer they could drink) because they knew that the union was going to take care of them, just like their fathers, and grandfathers.

Fortunately we don't have to deal with that too much here, and I think that's attractive to all kinds of business.

"Artificial attractants" are just that, "artificial.  Tulsa offers a very strong free market atmosphere devoid of many of the oppressive regulations, obstacles, and personalities present in other locations across the country.  We have a skilled, responsible workforce. The need for carrots should be minimal.

This insulation of stability should prove to serve us very well in difficult times like these.  Expansion of our educational and workforce development programs is a smart investment.

[PonderInc]

We can't just be a call-center town, b/c those jobs can easily be outsourced, and they never generate the sort of economic power that highly educated entrepreneurs can bring to a city.  

It's also important to remember that fear-based immigration policies stifle the innovation that could fuel local economies.  

Here's a great quote from a recent article in Newsweek. (Can't remember if I've quoted this somewhere else...but it applies here.)

The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country.  ...Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities.

... the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.

Just something to think about.  Hmmmm....

[TheArtist]

Education really is the key. For too long Tulsa either didn't care to have a good university system, or wasnt allowed to. When oil flowed, the educated people, and wages, came to Tulsa naturally. Now the oil is mostly gone, or will be, so we need to start growing our next sources of power and wealth, that includes brain power.

Education is a renewable energy source of unlimited potential. Brain power is the power source of the future.

Yea, I know its cliche and hokey, but its still true.