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Imagine running a city government like San Antonio with an annual budget of $50m for economic development, whose basic definition is ‘any business activity’. Imagine the largest federal assistance programmes funding 84 economic development programmes, amounting to tens of millions, having no common definition, and no useful evaluation of outcomes. There are 52 entrepreneurial assistance programmes costing $2bn, fragmented and inefficient. These efforts are like toothpaste, offered in measured portions, with only cosmetic value. Economic orthodontists need not apply.
The recession has taken a grim toll on high street retail chains with family favourites such as JBB Sports, Peacocks and my own favourite, Jane Norman, either closing or slimming down. But other retails outlets are thriving. Payday lenders, pawnbrokers and betting shops have proliferated, in some areas changing the look and feel of the high street.
