Suckering in a paper that ought to know better

The Post & Courier- arguably the best among the sadly diminished lot that is the newspaper world in SC- has gotten pwned by an economic "study" unveiled by a former economist to GOP Governor Carroll Campbell and promoted by Campbell's chief of staff, Bob McAlister.

Fortunately, though, there really is some very encouraging economic news for our community -- and our state: A new study has re-confirmed the well-grounded expectation that Boeing's ongoing move to North Charleston will provide a powerful economic uplift, not just in the Charleston area but throughout South Carolina.

That research was conducted by Miley & Associates for the Alliance for South Carolina's Future, a Columbia-based nonprofit. Professor Harry Miley, author of the study, concluded that Boeing's 787 Dreamliner expansion here will produce more than 15,000 jobs and roughly $6 billion a year in "direct, indirect and induced" economic activity in the state over the next 17 years.

In this space the interests of the men behind the group have been questioned. Basically, it's a lot of guys with ties to GOP consulting firms like Richard Quinn & Associates, the Port System, The SC Policy Council. As Cotton Boll Conspiracy noted in a comment, they're people who have a vested interest in the state's 1950s economic development strategy of corporate tax bribes and guaranteeing little regulation, low taxes, and a workforce desperate to be paid less than Boeing pays workers in its other plants.

The study is the only thing the group behind it has produced, despite several name changes, is the pie in the sky Boeing report, which contains more doubtful assumptions- and conclusions- than you can shake a stick at. Anytime somebody tells you what's going to be in thirty years' time- well, they're either crazy or selling you a bill of goods.

It's regrettable that the P&C's editorial is nothing but a regurg of the press release the group sponsoring the report.