Ed Morrison · Should state economic development efforts be privatized?

August 21st, 2010

John Kasich thinks so:
Kasich would privatize state development efforts

Others aren’t so sure:
Florida privatized economic development efforts. It didn’t turn out so well.

The truth of the matter is that the privatization decision is a complex one. This fact is especially so in economic development, where it is not always clear what the government is trying to get with a private contract and what it actually receives.

Some look at privatization as a way to cut through the slow moving bureaucracy. At the same time, privatization raises the risks of nondisclosure, weak accountability and inside dealing.

If a government appears confused or, worse still, does not know what it is buying, privatizing these services is not the answer.

In other words, privatization has both a bright side and a dark side. Where you end up depends in large part on whether or not you know what you are doing.

It’s not all that simple.

If you are interested in exploring these complexities, read Jack Donohue’s book, the Privatization Decision.

I’d rather see Kascich and others explore new approaches to economic development, based on networks. Turning the Department of Development into a more lean, agile and flexible set of managed networks — to stimulate open innovation within regional economies — represents a promising strategy. The Democratic candidate for governor in Maine is exploring this approach.

The reason? The practice of collaborating across organizational and political boundaries is gaining momentum in the state. Here’s how Maine’s Labor Commissioner, Laura Fortman, introduced a workshop last week:


Maine Commissioner of Labor introduces Strategic Doing from Ed Morrison on Vimeo.

Here, the book to read is Stephen Goldsmith’s Governing by Network.

Last 5 posts by Ed Morrison

Random Posts

Category: BFD
Comments Off