A constant refrain at city council meetings by unhappy citizens is the lack of economic development in their respective communities. Many have said they opposed the recent bond propositions because economic development funds were deleted from the final propositions.
The problem with the term “economic development” is that the phrase can be used to mean practically anything a proponent wants. If the concern is the expenditure of public dollars and the ripple effect , then the bond propositions had many economic development projects.
Building a new police headquarters is as much economic development as building a new state office building and a new justice center at the proposed Cross Bayou Pointe development. Remodeling existing facilities and/or building new ones for the proposed 4 police substations would also have been economic development in the truest sense of the word.
Money spent on architects, engineers, construction workers and purchases of building materials pumps money into the local economy. And that is true no matter if its public or private dollars utilized for the construction project.
If complaints are over the lack of new , meaningful , long term jobs, then “economic growth” is a more correct term.
Growing the economy to improve the quality of life for all citizens can not be achieved totally by the expenditure of public funds. Growing the demand for more goods and services not currently available in our region is easier said than done unless there is a market for new businesses or the expansion of current ones.
Interrelated, but totally different in meaning, is the term “economic disparity.” This term more correctly describes the differences between cultural groups in either wealth or income disparity. Often these are the same.
There is economic development in Shreveport—downtown, Line Avenue south of 70th Street and in some southeast Shreveport subdivisions.
There is economic growth in Shreveport’s medical community and service industries.
And there is economic disparity in Shreveport’s population where over 50% of its residents live paycheck to paycheck. The United Way ALICE report confirms this fact.
Yes, economic development, economic growth and economic disparity are related realities. But they are different and these distinctions should be recognized in discussions on public policy, public private partnerships and the Shreveport economy.
This Article was published in the December 20th issue of The Inquisitor.