Readers wrestle with Arizona question
One reason the Journal publishes UpFront is to generate some worthwhile civic dialogue. Thanks to a paper by Duquesne University economist Matt E. Ryan, that mission has been accomplished this week.
Sunday’s UpFront reported that Ryan argued in an unpublished paper that, by letting public spending drive our economy more than free market transactions do relative to Arizona, New Mexico has underperformed Arizona economically by a meaningful amount. Readers suggested that the two economies are more complicated than that, the link between government reliance and failing economies is not clear, and the prosperity Ryan sees in Arizona is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Ryan cited the similarities between the states historically and culturally. Some readers see many more dissimilarities.
One reader observed that New Mexico already had a
300-year-old Spanish-style commercial culture, thanks to trade along El Camino Real, when copper was discovered in Arizona in the 19th century, kicking off some migration from outside the territory. Arizona’s commercial culture was brand new; our culture, to the extent that it is an economic burden, is something that has to be overcome.
A native of Arizona said the difference in the economies is that outsiders came to Arizona in large numbers in the 20th century and usurped the old power structures. Newly built retirement cities brought retirees and their money to Arizona. Snowbirds from out of state came to spend the winter. They brought their interests and talents and capital with them. Motorola kicked off a virtuous cycle of technology manufacturing when it opened a semiconductor plant near Phoenix.
“There was an incredible energy as new people nested and became passionate Arizonans,” the reader said. “New people look forward and not back because they have no history.”
Another reader said it is a myth that Arizona has not relied on federal spending. “Arizona was rescued postDepression with the massive construction of numerous military bases,” he said. “Those bases helped them expand economically into aircraft industries and semiconductors.”
“There is plenty of entrepreneurship in states that are also heavily dependent on government,” the reader concluded.
Peter Strascina wrote that Ryan’s assumption that Arizona and New Mexico were culturally similar into the 20th century just isn’t so. Citing a report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Strascina said that, in the middle of the 19th century, 60,000 people in New Mexico were Spanish-speaking, 7,500 Spanish speakers were in California and only 1,000 were in Arizona. Congress found that, and other New Mexico quirks, so off-putting it delayed New Mexico statehood for decades. Because Arizona was part of the New Mexico territory for much of that time, Arizona’s statehood was also delayed, even though interest groups in Arizona lobbied for years to separate from New Mexico, which they called a “commonwealth of different traditions, customs and aspirations.”
Ryan’s focus on gross state product as a measure of prosperity is too narrow, if not altogether misleading, Anne Kass argued. Ryan should look at “distribution concerns” — how the wealth is spread across a community, how the quality of a community’s life is improved by its economy.
“At the end of the day, I’d much rather be living in New Mexico than Arizona where way too much of its ‘economic activity’ is from … finance, insurance and real estate or, as I refer to it, no-value-added activities,” Kass said.
Stephen F. Baca wrote that New Mexico’s problems stem more from its “antibusiness mentality, and its liberal, Third World, prolabor attitude, compared to Arizona’s right-to-work stance, than to the impact of government or private investment.” Baca said he owned a business in California, but “fled to Arizona a few years ago” to escape “oppressive regulations.” Though he now lives in Rio Rancho, Baca said, “Being very familiar with New Mexico’s political milieu, I would not risk starting a business here.”
William Bramlett had a similar view. “Obviously, economy is good for at least some people in Phoenix,” he said. “It might be interesting to compare social stratification in the two states without the bromides about how the economy makes it great for everyone.”
Dianne Layden recalled that when she was in school in Tempe in 1966, “The Arizona Republic raged editorially that the Phoenix Symphony gave a free concert at the high school in a poor area, calling it ‘creeping socialism.’ ” When the private sector dominates, she said, all sorts of publicspirited efforts come under attack.
“I can think of other variables — altitude, labor laws, political party in control, average age of citizens, environmental regulations — but where would you rather live?” said Geri Rhodes. “Years ago, a local developer showed me photos of his recent trip to Scottsdale and said that city depicted his vision for New Mexico. Heaven forbid!”
“Arizona suffers from population explosion, air pollution and racism,” a reader wrote. “New Mexico glories in wide-open spaces, clean air and a mix of cultures. Value judgments depend on one’s values.”