In the Trenches

Turning the Page

Written by The Economic Development Curmudgeon

This month the Curmudgeon is wandering into the politics and local economic development topic. But warning is in order; the pompous fool is not going to concern himself with the obvious everyday practitioner concern of how to best cope with the deleterious effects of political meddling into solid and effective local programs and initiatives. Instead, the old codger is delving into various “theories” of local politics and their implications on local economic development. This is on top of last month’s theme of growth and innovation economics in which the Curmudgeon again focused on “theories”, this time economic. What is with this fascination with “theories”?

Looking for Help in all the Wrong Places!ORWhy Urban Political Scientists are Little Help to an Economic Developer

The topic this month is urban political science theories and approaches. The question we pose is if urban political scientists offer any guidance to economic developers in field on how to cope with politics in their daily job? Do they provide some description, case studies, outlines or analysis of the forces which whipsaw practicing economic developers? Do their theories and approaches offer some degree of understanding what goes on politically with the sub-state politics and program administration? This question allows the Curmudgeon to present a review of how urban political scientists conceptualize urban politics in a vein similar to last month’s assessment of the underlying economic theory of innovation and the knowledge economy. At the same time, the review could offer nuggets of assistance to the struggling economic developer. God knows, the economic developer in the field can use some help with politics.