Who do you believe about the condition of Hawaii’s economy – the mainland-based
Corporation for Enterprise Development or state officials?
That question
lingered in the wake of a report this week by the mainland, non-profit
organization that tracks economic development nationally. On a scale of A (top
of the line) to F (low as it gets), Hawai’i graded out at D for economic
development and F for the vitality of its businesses, according to the
group.
The poor marks didn’t end there. Among the 50 states, Hawai’i also
ranked nearly at the bottom in strength and its competitiveness with
out-of-state businesses, was 49th in spending on public education in grades
kindergarten through high school, and was last in teacher salaries.
None of
the findings were astonishing. Hawaii’s schools have been scorned for some
time, particularly in relation to teachers’ wages. And the National Federation
of Independent Business noted that business owners have long felt their
operations are unfairly hampered by state regulations.
But officials at the
state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism say Hawaii’s not
as bad off as the Corporation for Enterprise Development believes. For one
thing, they said, the report was based on statistics from 1997 to 1999, when
the state was indeed hurting economically. But Hawai’i is solidly on the
comeback trail now, the officials said, citing as an example the state’s
unemployment rate that has dropped more than a point from the 5.7 percent
detailed in the report. The state has also cut income taxes and reduced the
sting of the general excise tax, they said.
A year from now, when the next
report comes out, maybe we’ll find out who’s right.
