Imagining the Ideal World - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 139

contradiction), and the last word Jimmy hears is street ; he thus follows the
direction of the two congruous words he hears, go and street , and gets hit by
a car.
What Jimmy's mother really meant and needed to have said was “Jimmy,
stay in the yard.” Then the directive word (the one telling Jimmy what to
do) would have been stay (singularly clear and concise), and the last word
Jimmy would have heard would have been yard . He would still have fol-
lowed the two congruous words he heard, stay and yard , but with very dif-
ferent results—he would be alive.
This example illustrates that having been raised trying to make positive
statements out of negative ones, we spend most of our lives trying to move
away from the negative—and we cannot. We can only move toward a positive, 1
which includes economic stability , the third pillar of the triple bottom-line.

Economic Development in the Current World
Most of us have some awareness of efforts aimed at economic development
in our community. Normally, the local press, given the siren call of increased
advertising revenues, will readily tout that perceived need and any efforts
to fill it:

• Get the economy moving again!
• Create jobs!
• CEO of XYZ Corporation visits city to consider locating a branch
plant—provided certain concessions are made—negotiations

confidential!

We have all seen similar statements, and in these days of a visibly failing
economy, the calls are even more strident. Anyone close to (or seeking to
be near) a position of influence seems to signal the need to promote higher
levels of economic activity. Attracting jobs to “our” town is as American as
motherhood and apple pie.
As an economist with expertise in regional and urban economics, I (RB)
have both observed and been directly involved in many aspects of this per-
vasive process, including inventories of potentially industrial lands, zoning
for location of business, creation of economic-development districts, and the
calculation of spending and job multipliers for measuring the direct and
indirect economic impact of some new business or activity. Having taught
for 33 years at a university located in a state capitol (Willamette University
in Salem, Oregon), I have even participated in writing legislation designed
to “improve” the economy, and testified before legislative committees