Growth Machine Approach to Local Economic Development
The term "growth Machine" is the Political Economists' euphemism for the class (read clique) of folks at the center of things in economic development primarily, who have their hands firmly planted on the wheel of state and most of the major institutions of communication and business. They are the movers and shakers so to speak. They operate as a concerted effort to boost the local economy, and from the perspective of the political economy folks, have a personal vested interest in doing so. They exist in many towns and regions and tend to collect nick-names like "AllaBabba and the 40 thieves" from those on the outside.
It is because the benefits of such activities do not tend to trickle down to the lower levels, that the Political economy people have so much "problem" with them. A photojournalist on a listserve made an interesting comment in light of his years travelling to the world's hot spots, when some photographers were griping about the changing dynamics in he photo industry. He noted that the oppressed , in his experience don't want to overthrow the oppressors, they want to be the oppressors: an interesting perception in this context. Such constellations of people tend to draw a lot of fire from the political economy group, and might well be reminded of the old army slogan "don't bunch up boys, you make too tempting a target"
On the other hand the growth machine is only a group of movers and shakers of the "apple tree" of investment. They are not the apple trees themselves. They are often beholden to the "giver-financiers" in behind the scenes who tend to insist on a return on their investment of some sort.
That aside, forming and activating such coalitions of local businessmen is an excellent way to stimulate a local economy. There are lots of events and development activities, which are put on in the Westman area which bring both direct economic benefits to the region and indirect boosts to morale.
Below are some sites, which relate to growth machine approaches from both perspectives.
Further Enrichment Sites
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