Confronting the challenge of persistent poverty...
Friday, February 07, 2003
A new report outlines the challenges of economic development in the rural South. It advocates more focused and coordinated investments in education, health care, community development, and small business development.
To some, this approach sounds like social welfare. But it is not.
We are really facing a "pay me now, or pay me later" problem. Early intervention strategies -- Head Start, reductions in low birth weight babies, parenting education, reading programs -- boost our incomes (high school graduates earn $100,000+ more than high school drop-outs over their lifetime) and cut our costs (it costs $6,000 a year to send a child to school and $26,000+ to keep someone in prison).
As EDPros, we need to stop assuming this is someone else's problem. As the report notes, "Poverty is the absence of wealth, not the absence of character."
posted by Ed Morrison |
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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:
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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.
Confronting the challenge of persistent poverty...
