An editorial from the Parkersburg News and Sentinel
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — West Virginia University researchers told those gathered at the 23rd annual West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference this week the outlook for the Mountain State’s economy is not as bad as it could be, but still is not great. In fact, Bureau of Business and Economic Research Director John Deskins said the decline in the coal industry is expected to continue, though perhaps flatten out, and the state as a whole is expected to have only 0.6 percent job growth over the next five years. It will take more than five years to get back to levels seen way back in 2012.
At least the number-crunchers do not anticipate us going backwards. But figures like those are not exactly the kind of healthy growth West Virginia needs. Certainly it is not the kind of growth that would support the visions of gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice, who insists “we’ve got to grow our way out of this mess,” rather than tackle cuts that would eliminate the waste and corruption in state government.
A bucket cannot be filled with a little water poured in at the top if there is a huge leak constantly draining from the bottom. The level will never rise.
WVU’s team suggests right-sizing government will be an attractor to businesses, too. Would it not be better to find ways to bring businesses and people into our state than face the loss of another 20,000 residents projected over the next two decades?
Another four or five years of the same-old, same-old is not going to cut it for West Virginians. Many will be forced to leave. West Virginia’s economy will not rise out of this quagmire if state leaders do not find a way to support the modest growth expected by eliminating the redundancies, waste and flat out corruption that is so entrenched in Charleston.
