Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I accept that…they have been doing that for along time.This is true, but there has been an effort made for years now to diversify as much as possible in the state overall. It’s never a great idea to have your entire economy so dependent on one industry, especially one like travel and tourism that is very volatile and very prone to downturns when there is a macro economic blip. The other issue is most of the jobs are lower paying, service type jobs. Attracting industries like aerospace and pharmaceuticals is appealing because they bring in higher paying, more stable jobs. The point of all of this is that this “attack” against TWDC is eye opening for these other employers potentially looking to move facilities or jobs to FL. Other industries are not as tied physically to the state and many states offer tax breaks and pro-business policies without the political uncertainty. It’s hard to commit to multi-year investments when things are so unstable.
It’s certainly the prerogative of state lawmakers to prioritize other issues over the economy, but that comes at a price. An economic slowdown is coming for the whole country, likely a recession. Nobody knows how bad a slowdown or how long it will last but we do know from history that travel and tourism are hit first when the economy slows. FL has a crisis with homeowners insurance already and a major housing bubble primed to burst too. Now is the time to be supporting the economy and protecting the workers but it seems there may be an attitude that it’s too good to fail and the good times will last forever.
But how do they do it? Tax shelters and the promise of low labor costs.
Same old hook.
But let’s zoom out and take a look at the litmus test: it’s been a ridiculous 14 years since a recession other than a 7 week government controlled hiccup…
So when/if one hits…what’s gonna happen in Florida?
I think it won’t surprise much. That is how you know “how far they’ve come”? Always.