Status quo efforts to restore prosperity, especially to places like tiny Whitewater, Wisconsin, won’t work. We don’t need more public projects; we need more private opportunities. Whitewater’s municipal government can’t make our lives better, and the road ahead is too uneven to expect conventional solutions to help us.
Our way out: dismantling every part of Whitewater city government’s failed economic meddling, reducing government to emphasize public safety first, with most other functions being cut significantly, ending additional tax incremental financing schemes, abolishing nearly all regulatory fees and permit costs, and rejecting the sugary (short term) fix of federal grant money.
A smaller city government is the means to a more prosperous city.
Here’s what we, and even more successful communities, face:
The economic recovery won’t be catching fire any time soon.
Businesses and governments are likely to reduce spending in the second half of the year. Consumers, who drive most economic growth, aren’t expected to take up the slack.
The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter, offering its third and final estimate for the period. It was slower than initially thought because consumers spent less and imports rose faster that previously calculated.
Economists anticipate even slower growth ahead as companies bring their stockpiles more in line with sales. Factory output has climbed this year. But it was driven more by businesses replenishing their warehouses after the recession and less by consumer demand.
“The economy is growing, but still at a disappointingly slow pace,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities. Take away businesses restocking their inventories and “you still have a lukewarm recovery,” he said….
“This is still the weakest and longest economic recovery in U.S. postwar history,” said Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.
See, Economy Faces Tough Road Ahead with Slower Growth – Yahoo! Finance.