SwampFox

Wrong vision: "Private enterprise could never grow hand in hand with govt—one always grows at the expense of the other"

Submitted by: John Warner on Jul 21, 2009 at 10:15 am Tagged with: Economic Development Source: Swamp Fox

Recently The State published emails between Governor Sanford and his staff.In one, the Governor sums up an important foundation of his philosophy that has guided much of the public policy during his administration.

"Private enterprise could never grow hand in hand with govt—one always grows at the expense of the other."

After the debacle of the past year, even those like me who have a fundamental faith in markets must agree that there is a role for government to help restrain what Joseph Schumpeter called our "animal spirits." On the other hand, all of us should be alarmed when government overreaches, as it is currently doing at the Federal level. No matter how well intentioned politicians are, taxing capital away from the most successful innovators and entrepreneurs at confiscatory rates in excess of 50% is incredibly poor economic policy, which we will pay for in lower economic growth and higher unemployment for decades.

It takes both good government and good business to make a community successful. The notion that the interplay between government and private enterprise is always a zero sum game is flawed. If government and private enterprise work together effectively, each respecting the proper sphere of the other, they can create more prosperity and a better quality of life.

I moved to Greenville almost 30 years ago, when Main Street had been all but abandoned after retail moved out to the suburban malls. Downtown where I worked had few places to eat and could be dangerous even during the day. Few of us in Greenville 30 years ago could image how delightful downtown would be today, illustrated by the image above of a sidewalk cafe on Main Street. (Courtesy SCIway.net) An effective decades-long public/private partnership has created a Greenville downtown which attracts creative, innovative people to work, live and play.

Greenville's rebirth has not been without its controversies and setbacks. There have been times when government has overreached. There have been businesses that have failed. There have been recessions and economic booms. Mostly though, the renaissance of Greenville is a testament to the amazing results that can be achieved when government, business, academic, and not-for-profit leaders work effectively and consistently over a number of years to achieve a common vision to improve the prosperity and quality of life for their community.

From creating endowed research chairs that have attracted preeminent talent to the state, to the growth of a high impact entrepreneurial community, South Carolina has made amazing progress, especially in the past decade. We need to celebrate our successes; it is incredible how much we have accomplished.

But I have been in too many meetings in the past year with government and academic officials where there was little or no industry representation. To improve the prosperity and quality of life for everyone in South Carolina going forward, we need government, business, academic, and not-for-profit leaders at the table talking together every chance we get to create a common vision we work towards for the long-term, which is what it takes to be successful.