The governor has much good news to crow about. After eight years of decline Louisiana’s economy is finally showing signs of life.

Seemingly week after week we hear about another major investment in the state. That’s great news, but these must be taken in a certain context. The investments being announced are generally capital intensive but, once constructed, they basically employ little direct labor. Of course, all these projects spin off whole layers of local economic activity that results from capital being pumped into the local economy. So, in all they are good news.

All great news, but we must not lose sight of the need to look beyond massive industrial capital investments to build a statewide diverse economy. The common reasons that most of these sites are chosen has much to do with resources, available raw land, proximity to other industry, and transportation links. But we are a big state, and most of our people live in locations far from the sites of these announced projects, we live in urban and suburban areas. In a nutshell we must make it so that growth in all regions of the state is the goal.

In order to build a diverse economy, one in which the vast number of citizens participate, we must focus attention on the fundamentals that drive prosperity in urban and suburban domains. We know what these fundamentals are because we have witnessed their implementation in so many booming states and cities in the South.

The roots of Louisiana’s economic malaise can be found in its history of populism based upon social welfare, while prosperity and growth in the modern South is based upon unfettered capitalism. Favorite talking points of Louisiana’s anti-capitalist politicians, ironically so many of whom represent the poorest urban and suburban populations, are that trickle-down economics don’t work. But, once viewed in the context of history, the economic success of the United States and the growing prosperity of Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina, and others prove how very wrong they are. Once viewed in the context of history, the social populism policies that these Louisiana politicians love to defend have led to the outflow of Louisiana’s best and brightest, fleeing from their homes to find prosperity elsewhere. Defending the indefensible prove how wrong they are.

The legislature must realize that economic growth outside of limited areas is not possible as long as we cling to what we have always done. We cannot allow local politics to destroy the economic prospects of their own people. We cannot accept that mediocre results in education are just the way it has to be. We cannot accept that our civil justice structure can drive business away from our state by assuring that litigation tilted in favor of trial lawyers is the rule not the exception. We cannot accept that urban centers are no longer economic growth engines, instead places to house poverty and social ills.  We cannot believe that, instead of fixing the business climate, using massive giveaways to buy industry is the right way to lure business to the state. We cannot accept the belief that somehow business, and with it prosperity, has to come to Louisiana, it does not. We cannot accept the Left’s belief that dependency on big government benefits anyone other than those in big government.

The options open to Louisiana’s leaders are clear, accept growing poverty in urban and suburban areas while being satisfied with occasional economic wins mostly in limited industrial or rural areas, or finally tackle the issues that make urban and suburban areas unappealing to growth.

After one year of the governor’s term, we are seeing growth in heavy industry. That’s great. But now’s the time for us to finally acknowledge that the vast majority of people will benefit only from a broad-based economy. And that will be achieved only when we address the issues preventing urban and suburban domains from also realizing their potential.

Here’s an idea, we can capitalize on tourism, the remnants of the energy industry, and growing heavy industry when linked to a positive business climate as precursors to just such a broad-based economy. Or we can stay the same.