In his second column in an exclusive three-part series for Daily Report, departing Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret makes his case for what Louisiana could accomplish in the coming decades “if we are willing to dream big enough—and work hard enough—to get there.”
After nearly 25 years of net population out-migration through 2005, Moret notes that U.S. Census data now indicate we have gone from strong out-migration every year to a balanced situation, with slightly more people moving into Louisiana than moving out. While Louisiana is in the early stages of an unprecedented manufacturing investment boom, it is also home to a rapidly expanding software development industry.
“We are at an inflection point in our history,” writes Moret, who will wrap up his work with LED today and soon will take over as the next president and CEO of the LSU Foundation. “What will we do with this opportunity? Will we become complacent (like we too often have been in the past), or will we seize this moment to enact a compelling economic strategy and make targeted investments that will position us for sustained prosperity?”
Moret says if we look back at the last few decades prior to the Great Recession, states such as Georgia, North Carolina and Texas regularly were growing 2% a year or better.
“That may not seem very fast, but for Louisiana that growth rate would represent about 40,000 net new jobs per year,” he writes. “A Louisiana growth rate of 40,000 jobs per year would be transformational.”
Based on national growth forecasts from Moody’s, Moret says that growth rate would make Louisiana one of the fastest-growing states in the South and U.S. over the coming decades.
“With a surplus of new jobs, more Louisiana citizens could achieve the American Dream right here at home,” he writes. “Poverty would decline. Crime rates would decline. Education outcomes would improve. There would be more support for arts, culture and nonprofits. Provided that we make reasonable adjustments to our tax structure, we would experience growing tax revenues with no increase in tax rates.”
What would Louisiana’s future look like if we were able to grow consistently at a rate of about 40,000 jobs per year?
“By 2018, our state’s population would hit five million,” Moret writes. “Just five to six years from now, after the 2020 Census, we would regain the congressional seat we lost after Katrina. By around 2026, a million people would have moved to Louisiana from other places to pursue opportunities here. Imagine Louisiana with a million new residents contributing to our economy and workforce—that would mean more concerts, more art, more ideas, and more domestic and international flights.”
Read the full column. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
Look for Moret’s final column in the three-part series in Daily Report PM today, and be sure to read his first column in the series, in which he reflects on his seven-year tenure at the helm of LED.
Editor’s note: Stephen Moret is wrapping up his last week as secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, a position he’s held since 2008. In an exclusive, three-column series for Daily Report, Moret reflects on his tenure at LED (Part 1); makes the case for robust, diversified economic growth to be Louisiana’s top goal (Part 2); and offers a roadmap for how to accomplish that goal (Part 3).
