Imagining the Ideal World - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 142

• Create institutions and business opportunities that allow communi-
ties to finance their own efforts.
• Emphasize economic institutions and arrangements that highlight
economic interdependence.
• Always address questions of distribution and justice first, regardless
of the economic or environmental implications.
Assessing Conventional Wisdom
There were 10 points describing the conventional model enumerated earlier:
five principles or assumptions and five incentives that states and cities fre-
quently consider. In light of the principles of the local approach just reiter-
ated, we now assess the 10 points in turn.
1. Attract a Major Corporation
First, there are perhaps 10,000 other communities also trying to get a branch
plant of any company willing to expand, but the company is headed for China
or Mexico. And the head office is not moving, unless it is to the Bahamas or
Dubai for tax purposes. Anything a community does get will be the abso-
lute lowest-paying jobs in the corporation, and your community, in effect,
becomes an economic colony. The decision making remains elsewhere.
With the local approach, new startups are the goal, and there is no effort
whatsoever to woo big corporations. This alternative has its own challenges,
however, which we will discuss.
2. Employ the Local Labor Force
Certainly, if a community succeeds in getting a major company to open a
facility, they employ some local workers, but doing solely what the company
wants or needs them to do. Despite normal talk about “future expansion,” a
major company often employs the maximum number of workers it will ever
have when it first locates in that community. These days, a locally situated
corporation frequently evolves into a perpetual “cutback mode,” which is the
common operating model for many corporations worldwide. After all, virtu-
ally every major corporation, domestic or international, has been routinely
shedding local workers for decades, if for no other reason than outsourcing.
Avoiding labor costs is often the prime concern, which we are all aware is the
driving force behind outsourcing.
With the local approach, startup companies employ a certain number of
workers at first, and, if successful, unerringly expand employment over time.
Further, a range of job types will be available to fulfill the company's require-
ments. The average salary per employee is likely to be higher, because the
entire operation, including the chief executive officer (CEO), is located in the