Economic turmoil illuminates mission for leaders
Put away the fever charts showing the normal, cyclical ups and downs of the economy, both global and local. Nothing about the grim picture painted by Wall Street convulsions, high fuel prices and job losses is normal, especially not for a state that depends so heavily on people having enough disposable income to travel.
Even the most partisan bickering on Capitol Hill has been silenced by the inescapable fact that the country will have to pull together to come back from the near-meltdown of the global marketplace. Perhaps when Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is putting the fear of financial hellfire into you, there's nothing to do but cast off everything but survival instincts.
It's too soon to evaluate the wisdom of whatever course Congress will chart to lead the country out of this mess. But it's already clear the resolve to work collaboratively is one this state must adopt, as well.
Hawai'i's vulnerability, which economists have warned about for decades, has been laid bare by current events.
Airline failures and sequential company shutdowns have caused job losses, and the most recent report from the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization shows that decline persisting for a year or more. Visitor arrivals are projected to drop by 9.1 percent this year.
Fuel prices and the turbulence on the financial markets are making would-be travelers clutch their disposable income more nervously, so the links to national and global trends are crystal clear.
This is the landscape that Gov. Linda Lingle surveys in her commentary that appears in today's Focus section. She lays out a five-point plan for stimulating the economy and encouraging investment locally:
These actions, as well as sacrifices workers must accept to save jobs, are reasonable ways to soften the economic blow for the short term.
But the governor also reiterates her call for economic transformation as a long-term strategy. The current model, one that's reliant on very few employment engines, may sustain the present economic shock but provides no security for the future.
None of the subordinate and fledgling economic sectors Lingle wants to nurture — renewable energy and technology, for example — can replace tourism as a bedrock industry. But all of them should be developed: The new Hawai'i economic picture may be less of a portrait with a dominant element and more of a mosaic with many components.
Or one in particular may flourish for reasons nobody can yet anticipate. Tourism didn't become the dominant player until it was furthered by technological and socioeconomic changes. The dawn of jet travel in the postwar years brought Isle visits within reach of middle-class households around the world.
Nobody can say what the next game-changing developments might be. But we must be ready to seize the opportunities when they arise.
That's why our elected leaders, both in the state Capitol and the governor's mansion, have to apply a laser focus to laying the groundwork now.
Our education system needs to ramp up to prepare the workforce of the future. The business climate has to change to make Hawai'i far more attractive to investment, through a friendlier tax structure and a smarter, more coordinated approach to permitting and regulation.
Political divides need to be set aside, and in no area is this bipartisanship more important — and more sorely lacking — than in education.
The governor, Legislature and school systems have been at odds for years, each "partner" working at cross-purposes with separate initiatives, when only a unified agenda can meet the challenge of educational improvement and reform.
Dire emergency is often the only spark that can light a fire under politicians and the citizens they represent. It's sad to acknowledge that reality.
But if a crisis is what it takes to motivate true leadership, one has just appeared over the Hawai'i horizon. Allegiance to anything less than the common goal — building a stronger economic future — is unacceptable.
