Have We Got A Plan For You

Planning Vermont's Economy
by
John McClaughry

Two years ago the legislature created a commission on the future of economic development and charged it with producing a five year plan to identify long term goals for Vermont economic and job retention in light of the local and global economic climate. The commission was also charged with setting benchmarks for economic development, in such areas as tax policy, transportation, telecommunications, infrastructure, and so on. It has twelve members and has been meeting now for over a year.

The appropriations bill passed last week by the House amended the commission’s statute. Most of the new language has to do with terms of appointments, reporting, and increased emphasis on obligatory greenness. But there is one crucial statement that goes to the heart of what this liberal legislature has in mind for Vermont. It reads as follows:

There is established a commission on the future of economic development to cooperatively plan the free enterprise economy of Vermont.

What the people running the legislature completely fail to grasp is that the government can not cooperatively plan the free enterprise economy of Vermont.  A free enterprise economy is based on some ground rules set by government: public order, a constitution, a predictable judiciary, respect for property and contract, stable currency, modest taxes, reasonable regulation, and few mandates.

But beyond providing that, government cannot cooperatively plan the free enterprise economy. It can only plan a socialist economy. That’s clearly what the house leadership has in mind.

John McClaughry is President of the Ethan Allen Institute

Comments

[Dennis Lukas]

So what else is new?

[Mike Kipp]

I think your point speaks volumes. The legislature continues to demonstrate it's lack of experience and background needed to effectively address the real world issues facing the State.