Show THE DIE VOICE OF S ESS r d J i r. r Where the 1 jobs lis' lis bs arent aren't p and rr why Dy fly Richard L L. Lesher President Chamber of 01 Commerce of 01 the United States Over the last two years New NewYork NewYork York State lost more private sector jobs than the other 49 states together according to a recent Teamsters Union Sur Sur- vey WY If II we apply to this situation the logic of the Humphrey Humphrey- Hawkins which bill which would cure th the national unemployment unemployment unemployment problem by providing government then jobs the solution to New Yorks York's problem seems obvious Let the state l hire re the jobless BUT WAIT a minute New NewYork NewYork NewYork York already has the highest percentage of state and local government employees in the nation 62 per 1000 population versus the national average of 54 per 1000 These public employees who in many categories are the thel I l highest paid in the country are costly to support Also costly are the multitude of expensive free services they ad ad- minister Consequently the combination combination combination com com- of state and local taxes in New York is is' is higher per capita than any other states And New NewYork York State taxes high incomes more heavily than any other state FOR THESE and other reasons businesses have been leaving New York at an accelerating accelerating accelerating ac ac- rate With them of course go the jobs A study by byan byan byan an international plant-location plant consulting firm the Fantus Company quoted in the Amherst NY Bee rates NewYork New York State as h having ving the worst business climate in the US U.S. What accounts for this distinction aside from the crushing taxes Two New York scholars who looked into the problem-Bernard problem Lee Weinstein Weinstein Weinstein Wein- Wein stein and George Keller Keller- concluded that it is a anew new attitude attitude attitude at at- that many New Yorkers Yorker's particularly some highly educated h in Ne y Ne J York City have a developed ov overt over r several generations of prosperity Its It's a post-industrial post attitude an almost century aristocratic sense that business making money trade salesmanship and economic expansion are unseemly if not not contaminating These are the I people according according according ac ac- ac- ac cording to Weinstein and Keller who want to lito redistribute other peoples people's wealth rather than to create wealth of their own On the other hand the authors say business and financial communities in New NewYork NewYork NewYork York have lost a great deal of their political influence have increasingly been neglected and more highly taxed and ha have ve often oCten been held up to public ridicule AS A RESULT of this climate employers and a number of New Yorks York's most enterprising hard working young persons are being lost to other states and other regions where people are less affluent still struggling and more appreciative of business acumen To be sure the quality to cultural life and social justice in these poorer regions s is often lower but So is the unemployment the malaise and the sense that things are coming apart Once established the cycle feeds on itself As the businesses and the young depart they leave New York with more than its share of the aged and the the the poor beneficiaries and the victims of ofa ofa ofa a social welfare policy that is quite literally bankrupt TO BE SURE there are things to be said in New Yorks York's favor and Weinstein and Keller say them Parts of the state are quite healthy economically the he state and New York City are suffering to an extent from national and regional trends not entirely of their own making many widespread beliefs beliefs' about the city and state such state such as an unusually high crime rate and excessive labor problems in the private sector-are sector simply not true The authors are not trying to vilify New York Rather they want its citizens to face re reality lity understand its problems and begin to take advantage of its many remaining r resources sources It is in in that tha spirit and in hopes that people in other parts of the country can learn from New NewYork's NewYork's NewYork's Yorks York's difficulties that I repeat some of their comments taken from an n e Search sr the quarterly of the State University of New York Will New York correct its mistakes and become more like the rest of the country Or will the rest of the country make the same mistakes and become more like New York For a clue to the answers keep an eye on the progress of the Humphrey- Humphrey Hawkins bill |