Monday, January 20, 2003
Governor Frank O'Bannon's efforts to refocus Inidiana's economic strategy is off to a shaky start. With Energize Indiana, the governor proposes to invest in a 10-year, $1.25 billion initiative to jump-start Indiana's ailing economy through investments in economic development, education and work-force development.
The most controversial component of his plan is to issue bonds, secured by tobacco settlement funds. O'Bannon has proposed leveraging future tobacco money to pay for much of Energize Indiana. The public debate is already muddled, but it shouldn't be.
The issue of "pay me now, or pay me later" turns on two questions: What is the present value of future cash streams from tobacco? Second, what is the return on investment from investing the money now?
My conclusion after looking at these two questions: O'Bannon's proposal makes sense.
But don't count on see it any time soon. The House Speaker has already divided the package up into 15 different bills that will be heard in seven committees. The Ways and Means Committee is supposed to reassemble the pieces.
And O'Bannon has failed to market his ideas effectively...starting with his "brand": "Energize Indiana".
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Indiana's plan stumbles at the starting gate
