---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 05:52:08 +0000 From: Ken Ka`imi Stokes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: jobs vs tourist dollars - productivity Yup! Great mana`o (thoughts) here! I'm reminded of a wonderfully synoptic chart on the cover page of a major Hawaiian bank's economic report several months ago... It showed state trends in gross business receipts and total employment over the last five years (since the slump began out here). The former steadily increased while the latter steadily decreased! At the time, I thought this was a great depiction of the impact of globalization or at least what we can expect from same. One point here is that we need to shift our economic development focus away from jobs, per se. Especially when we can show that the benefits of increased productivity go to bankers, not bed-makers (as in our tourism jobs indicator)... Our hounds are simply not nimble enough to catch this dashing rabbit! And, regarding the link to quality of life, I'm reminded of a wonderful quote from the 1994 UNDP report on economic conditions in the Pacific Islands which said: "The relatively high standard living is due, in part, to the continued heavy reliance on subsistence practices!" I can tell you this about the months following Hurricane Iniki: when the golden arches blew down and our `ohana (families) went back to the reefs and uplands for food, we all ate better! Ken PS-- Anybody got an indicator for corporate "meanness?" ...Like percent of the local workforce with some form of job security yesterday vs. today? -- Ho`okipa Network of Hawaiian CBO's <http://www.hawaiian.net/~cbokauai> 808-821-CBOS Taroist CBO's just do it... What it is is up to us...
