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%.
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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.