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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> Dr. Gunther in C.L.
Post Info TOPIC: Dr. Gunther in C.L.
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Dr. Gunther in C.L.
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Higher education is economic development


  • Investment brings higher return to state in tax revenues
    http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050129/OPINION/501290306/1166


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    1st Time

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    I've never put a bumper sticker on my car before but that was before I saw this one!


    "Solve the budget deficit: Invest in higher education"



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    Robert Campbell

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    This op-ed is a first step in breaking the media silence.


    Gunther refrains from questioning Thames' pet program, but he is sending a clear message against killing the College of Business.


    There are some holes in the kind of analysis he is providing but I don't see Thames or Malone complaining about them.


    Robert Campbell



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    Invictus

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
    "This op-ed is a first step in breaking the media silence."


    Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is here. The op-ed piece is utterly innocuous. From my own perspective, it is superficial.

    It's "nice" & that's how 99.9% of the people who read it are going to react: "How nice." Because it fails to call a spade a spade, any "hidden message" will be lost on almost everyone who reads it. In other words, it is subtle to the point that it can only be taken at face value.

    I'm stopping now, because my temptation at this point is to take potshots at the "analysis" & that would be counterproductive.

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    Mickey G.

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    Maybe the piece was intended to help influence the budgeting process in the state.  It appears to suggest that any cut to the higher ed budget will lead to a reduction in future state revenue and that INVESTMENT in higher eduction is a long term solution to the budget problem.  Did you overlook an orchid while searching for a rose?

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    Invictus

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Mickey G.
    "Maybe the piece was intended to help influence the budgeting process in the state.  It appears to suggest that any cut to the higher ed budget will lead to a reduction in future state revenue and that INVESTMENT in higher eduction is a long term solution to the budget problem.  Did you overlook an orchid while searching for a rose?"


    I'm sure that's one reason for the op-ed piece. But if you've talked to anybody who's been around the Legislature this year, the only thing that's really going to help the budgeting process would be a U.S. Constitutional amendment allowing states to issue currency.

    One thing Gunther missed that I noticed -- and I'm not an economist -- is that the salaries earned by graduates who go out-of-state to work are probably a major influence on the $36K average he cites. Obviously, out-of-state workers do not pay Mississippi income tax. Believe me, Mississippi legislators aren't interested in increasing tax revenues in Georgia, Texas or Illinois!

    And business majors are trained to avoid paying taxes anyway!

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    The Shadow

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    I see the piece as totally unrelated to the current problems at USM.

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    Robert Campbell

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    Invictus,


    One of the holes I saw in the analysis was not talking about the USM Business graduates who leave the state.


    Many "economic impact" pitches for state universities and their programs ignore such considerations.


    Robert Campbell



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    Invictus

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
    "One of the holes I saw in the analysis was not talking about the USM Business graduates who leave the state. Many "economic impact" pitches for state universities and their programs ignore such considerations."


    In my experience, most economists are quite familiar with the concept but few know how (or want) to do anything about it in their formulas.

    Quick man-on-the-street poll proposal: Ask people what word they associate with "economics." My bet is that half will say "home" & the other half will say "voodoo."

    [Really buzzin' on these cynicism pills!]

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    David Johnson

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Robert Campbell
    "Invictus,
    One of the holes I saw in the analysis was not talking about the USM Business graduates who leave the state.
    Many "economic impact" pitches for state universities and their programs ignore such considerations.
    Robert Campbell    "


    And, to be totally accurate, you would also have to include salaries earned and taxes paid by graduates coming into the state from non-Mississippi insitutions. Of course, that would assume Mississippi were a 'destination.'

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    Fickle Fingers of our Fate

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    What a capricious bunch we are!  Repeatedly posters on this website have jumped on the bandwagon sayiung education is the best investment the state can make in its citizens.  Then we get a credible source articulating that argument publicly for us and we jump all over it looking for flaws.  I, for one, choose simply to say thank you Dr. Gunther.

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    Butterfinger

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    quote:




    Originally posted by: Fickle Fingers of our Fat


    Repeatedly posters on this website have jumped on the bandwagon sayiung education is the best investment the state can make in its citizens.  Then we get a credible source articulating that argument publicly for us and we jump all over it looking for flaws.  I, for one, choose simply to say thank you Dr. Gunther."



    I second your remarks, Fickle Finger.

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    The Shadow

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Fickle Fingers of our Fate
    "What a capricious bunch we are!  Repeatedly posters on this website have jumped on the bandwagon sayiung education is the best investment the state can make in its citizens.  Then we get a credible source articulating that argument publicly for us and we jump all over it looking for flaws.  I, for one, choose simply to say thank you Dr. Gunther."


    I think people were hoping that it might at least touch on the current situation at USM. Also, the more common economic development argument is that an educated workforce attracts business to a state. As it is now, many educated young people must leave Mississippi because the state is perceived by businesses as having a poorly educated population.

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    Theorem

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: The Shadow
    "an educated workforce attracts business to a state"
    A collorary to that principle: an uneducated workforce attracts minimum-wage sweatshops to the state.

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    Invictus

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Theorem
    "A collorary to that principle: an uneducated workforce attracts minimum-wage sweatshops to the state."


    This happens to be the prevailing economic development practice in the state. No, it's not what the economic developmentators say but it is essentially what they & the legislature do.

    Third world class is what it is.

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    Curmudgeon

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    quote:
    Originally posted by: Theorem
    "A collorary to that principle: an uneducated workforce attracts minimum-wage sweatshops to the state."


    That worked until industry discovered China.

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