Reuteman: New hopes, threats loom for the West

Every so often, a document
lands on my desk that is so
intelligent, the best thing I can
do for you is to edit it down to its most important elements.

by Bob Reuteman Rocky Mountain News

In this instance, I’m talking about a new report called "Boom
and Bust in the American West." It was produced by the
Center of the American West at the University of Colorado. It’s
the outcome of a two-day workshop whose participants
included ex-Gov. Richard Lamm, CU history prof Patricia Limerick and CU
economist Rich Wobbekind.

It takes a hard look — past and future — at the mercurial economy of the
Interior West. Boom and bust, after all, has been the yin and yang of
Colorado’s economy since its inception. And there’s no better time for
reflection than the middle of a bust. Here are some highlights:

"While global capitalism has followed a pattern of big and often
sudden swings between prosperity and tough times, the West’s
involvement with booms and busts seems to be a more dramatic and
extreme version of the global story. Everyone’s fortune depended on
the production and marketing of one commodity .

.

. (which) brought a particular kind of precariousness, instability and
vulnerability."

"The West has made big strides toward a diversified economy. It
benefits from a geographic location nicely situated between the East
and the Pacific Rim. It is rich in amenities in an era where the
pleasant qualities of a place matter a lot to employees and
employers.

"With a stronger service economy, the region may well benefit from a
dampening of the traditional boom and bust cycles linked to natural
resources.

"The Western economy may at last have reached the long-sought goal of
diversification, losing its status as a separate regional economy with its own
characteristic strengths and vulnerabilities.

"The West has developed such strong links to national business cycles that
the old regional boom/bust swing might have become significantly
moderated, if not entirely resolved."

"Tourism may have a resilience unmatched by resource extraction.
And yet the New West boom has been so closely tied to the
purchasing powers of the well-off that a slippage in their spending
power would carry big consequences. In the event of a serious and
prolonged recession in the national economy, will we see ghost ski
resorts and abandoned recreational equipment stores?"

"To Westerners committed to the preservation of ecosystems,
habitats, open space, recreation and cohesive human communities,
booms represent threat and injury, while busts present themselves
as the only truly effective form of growth control.

"If officials in state and local governments have an aversion to growth
management through effective regulations and laws, then a bust can provide
the ‘enforcement power’ that government will not exercise. Even though a
bust is obviously a blunt and imprecise way to curb growth . . . it puts the
brakes on expansion that otherwise seems uncontrollable."

When California’s economy slumps, the Interior West’s population
grows. When California’s economy recovers, the Interior West’s
population growth slows. Interior Westerners may or may not wish for
California’s prosperity, but either way, they should watch it as a
bellwether of their own demographic trends.

"Modern Cassandras, citing past as prologue, warn that deep,
multi-year, region-wide droughts are possible, even likely, in the
West’s future, and that they will challenge the sustainability of our
current urban-oasis civilization."

If you want a copy of the full report, phone (303) 492-4879.

Rob Reuteman can be reached by phone at (303) 892-5177 or by e-mail at
[email protected].

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_82_1153661,00.html