Since at least the 1980s, the Arizona Republic and its successor, The Information Center, have periodically rolled out campaigns to make the economy more than attracting freezing Midwesterners and building sprawl. I did my time in the trenches on several of these efforts earlier in the decade. The work continues with a Sunday story about attracting high-paid jobs and diversifying the economy. On the Viewpoints front, we find a piece explaining the stakes and solutions by Ioanna Morfessis, the first president of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Then there is the obligatory rebuttal by the Local Krackpot "Think" Tank: "Cut taxes and incentives to create jobs." Also: "Reducing government red tape would also create a job-friendlier climate."
And does anyone wonder why Phoenix and Arizona keep falling further behind? First, why does the "Goldwater" Institute have standing to weigh in on anything? It's an advocacy group funded by national "conservative" interests, repeating national talking points just like all the other right-wing "think tanks" that were seeded around the country out of the Mont Pelerin Society and other wealthy reactionary groups in the 1980s and 1990s. It is like PETA or the NRA. In no way is it an organization that does real research. And after years of the same old lines, what does it have to say that's new? What does its sock puppet on the editorial page have to say that's new? Nothing. Can't the Info Center find even one independent conservative voice to write something that's relevant and interesting?
More importantly: The ideology so relentlessly peddled by the "Goldwater" Institute has run Arizona for years if not decades. Its polemicists always strike the pose of victims standing up against the hordes of socialists that control everything -- but it's a lie. They won. They're sore winners, out to quash any dissenting voices. Now they must continue to distract, keep the poor talk-radio zombies thinking that guv'munt is the problem. They must continue to carry water for the Real Estate Industrial Complex, which really controls the state (Please, God, give me one more boom...). All this because their ideology, implemented with ruthless, relentless effectiveness, has driven Arizona into the worst depression in its modern history. Their ideas have been tried and failed. And still they rule the day.
Arizona's problems are not difficult to parse. The solutions have been discussed for years but little has been done. Most recently, Phoenix especially had a chance to implement the "meds and eds" strategy, centered at the downtown biomedical campus, which would have begun a real diversification of the economy. This was a serious shot, the city having won T-Gen and a beginning on the medical school. Science Foundation Arizona was established to fund the most promising research. Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, against great opposition, were building research power. Most of this now has been stopped, slowed or frozen in place. It was opposed every step of the way by the Kookocracy that controls the capitol -- everything from funding the universities and SFA to building out the biomedical campus and providing a steady vote of confidence that would cause talented scientists to risk their careers by taking the chance on coming to Arizona. The Legislature would not even allow the kind of economic development tools to attract business from Southern California that had been proven in conservative Southern states.
Meanwhile, Arizona's taxes are among the lowest in the nation. It's regulation is among the most toothless. And what does the state have to show for it? Per-capita income that's below the national average; a rotten school system; state government in a fiscal crisis; infrastructure that's decades behind the need and ill-suited to a future of discontinuity, and a basket-case economy more dependent on construction than ever. From the first quarter of 2008 to the same period this year, Maricopa County saw the second-largest loss of jobs in the nation. A growing underclass. The largest employer in the state is Wal-Mart. Technology, venture capital and IPOs for Phoenix are at a level of a much smaller city, far below its rivals. Low-wage jobs. A looming environmental and water crisis. The Appalachia of the 21st century -- only the poor hollows of the east are more sustainable.
And here's some schmo from the "Goldwater" Institute writing: More of the same. And being given a platform in the Info Center. Morfessis has spent her career becoming an expert in international economic best practices. Who the hell is this propagandist for the "Goldwater" Institute and what has he done besides take dictation of right-wing talking points and read Atlas Shrugged? How long has he lived in Phoenix and does he give a rat's ass about the place?
The astoundingly destructive behavior of Arizona's political leaders and business elites, year after year, decade after decade, reminds me of the joke about the last words of a redneck: "Hey, y'all, watch this!"
Obviously if low taxes and little regulation were the keys to economic success, Mississippi or Somalia would have the most vibrant and prosperous economies in the world. Instead, the states with relatively high taxes and regulation have the best economies. The one exception "conservatives" can point to is Texas, which is a unique situation -- and still is saddled with huge social problems, lack of opportunity and inequality.
The Info Center isn't even having the right conversation; if it were, the "Goldwater" Institute would have nothing to add (with the single exception that incentives for shopping centers like City North are indeed stupid). The right conversation is this: Look at the leaders around the world in economic and social well-being -- even in the pure, and misleading, metric of growth -- and government obviously must do certain things very well. Even if you look at China, the nation is building high-speed rail and advanced universities -- not just subdivisions and retirement "communities." Look at the advanced world, and America is not even in the top ten of the latest United Nations human development index.
So, what must government do well? Arizona is not even considering this critical question, just repeating the bankrupt meme of tax cuts and devil take the hindmost.
The world has changed utterly with this crash. It has frozen the loser regions and states in place, and it will take mighty efforts to change that. The challenge is far greater than in the days of Saint Janet, when the state seemed to have at least a chance. The really bad news is that the economic troubles we have been through are only the first rumblings of the Great Disruption to come.
So go on, just cut taxes and regulations more. See how that works out for you.
Sadly, tax cuts and lax regulation will continue in Arizona, so long as Kooks like Andy Biggs, Russell Pearce and Sam "I don't believe in honoring contracts" Crump are running the show at the State House.
Posted by: ChrisInDenver | October 19, 2009 at 03:43 PM
I know I've mentioned it here before but when I asked Dr. William Harris, head of the Science Foundation why its corporate partners such as Intel and APS were constantly down at the legislature demanding tax cuts while bemoaning the sweeping of funds from the Foundation, I got a snippy response by him. Sadly, the good Doctor has drunk the supply side koolaid too. The problem isn't just the anti-gubmint kooks or even the Goldwater dolts. The bigger problem is predatory corporate culture and the massive sense of entitlement that the wealthy have. They want their science foundations and mass transit projects and whatnot but they'll be damned if they'll help pay for them.
Posted by: Donna | October 19, 2009 at 04:10 PM
One more thing:
"So, what must government do well?"
Duh, lock people up! Arizona is #2 in the nation in prison spending.
Posted by: Donna | October 19, 2009 at 04:13 PM