The Role of Economic Development Professionals in Job Creation

<p>Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member.</p> <p>In the third part of a series on “How to Create a Job”, This American Life teamed up with Planet Money to get some insights into the “nuts and bolts of government job creation” by attending a recent meeting of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).  Part three of the four-part series is a 15-minute segment that originally aired on National Public Radio (NPR) on May 13, 2011 titled “Job Fairies”.</p> <p>The segment was received as an affront by the formal leadership among economic development professionals.  IEDC President Jeff Finkle wrote a complaint to NPR in which he characterized the piece as essentially being an unfair and unbalanced hit job on the profession by reporters with preconceived notions about the value of economic development efforts.</p> <p>In a thoughtful response on his blog, NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos summarized the contentious points from the radio segment:</p> local and state economic developers across the country do little to create jobs for the nation as a whole; they largely “steal” jobs from one another; they are “lying” or at least “spinning” in selling their communities; even their local impact is negligible; and their real interest may be to protect their own jobs. <p>The NPR Ombudsman acknowledges some serious problems with the story, including many key conclusions being made without sufficient data to support them.</p> <p>While clearly controversial and somewhat mocking in tone, the segment makes some thought-provoking observations and implications about the practice of economic development that are worth addressing more fully:</p> <p>1.       The tendency for economic development to [...]</p>