Economic development is often viewed as an economic development tool used by local governments to attract investment, job creation and revenue. Economic development is also a collective effort by the responsible governing body within a metropolitan or suburban community to effect the management of commercial and investment capital toward opportunities which will result in sustained economic growth over the long term. Economic development is not a one time effort. Rather, it is a long term commitment for improving the conditions of the economy from the ground up.
There are many ways to define what is meant by economic development. Often, when economic development professionals speak about this concept, they consider it the implementation of policies aimed at promoting economic development through improved infrastructure, commercial real estate investment, increased tax revenues and employment generation. Broadening the lens a bit, the professionals may also be considering the creation of jobs in economic development zones, the improvement of educational outcomes and access to higher education, and the promotion of basic health. While these are all important goals, the most important goal in economic development is creating an environment that facilitates entrepreneurial activity. An environment that encourages entrepreneurship is essentially a healthy, vibrant and growing local economy.
The process by which entrepreneurial activity occurs is called economic development entrepreneurship. Economic development entrepreneurship is the fostering of a competitive environment that brings about business success for those entrepreneurs who are interested in building a home business. Entrepreneurial activity is crucial for economic growth because it is not uncommon for established businesses to fall by the wayside when they do not have an environment that fosters growth. A successful home based business is one that has an active interest in generating new business opportunities for itself.
When a business succeeds, the individuals who are involved with it become rich. The more successful that an enterprise becomes, the more money that flows into the community and to the individual who is directly or indirectly involved. A thriving economy is one in which people have a good standard of living and income. This is what is commonly referred to as economic development. The accumulation of wealth is considered a positive outcome for the economy.
Economic development can be attributed to many factors. One such factor is the creation of low-income units. These units are generally composed of small business owners who possess capital and are capable of investing that capital in various projects. Low-income areas are naturally close to urban centers and therefore they are places that are economically viable. In order for small business owners to establish a presence in these areas, they must be allowed to open a small business.
The success of small businesses is the key to economic development. They are what keep the lights on in communities. Without small businesses, there would be no lights. Economists and researchers make the claim that over three hundred million people live in the United States alone who are classified as being either low income or low-income along with those in the middle. A lot of these three hundred million individuals have either been demoted or have not been able to secure a steady job in the past.
Over the course of time, these three hundred million people will have their taxes increased significantly because of discrepancies in the level of taxation that they are required to pay. The Federal government has recently revised the tax code in an effort to prevent these individuals from having to increase their taxes to levels that are completely out of proportion to their income. For example, a person who makes fifty thousand dollars per year would be required to pay ten percent in federal tax this year and next year and so on. That would equate to an increase of nine thousand dollars per year for someone in the top bracket. This seems very unfair considering that in reality only about one percent of people making fifty thousand dollars per year are actually paying anything at all in federal tax this year.
If these people were to apply for unemployment benefits and if the unemployment benefits were granted, the number of people who would receive aid from the United States government would fall by nearly one hundred fifty million individuals. The economy as a whole would suffer an economic development crisis of epic proportions. There are very real problems with our country if this happens. If you want to see true economic development in your country, you should work to convince your representatives and your fellow citizens that more state and federal spending is necessary in order to ensure that the money that is being spent is bringing about an improvement in living standards for all Americans.
