Today and for the next few days, I want to hear your vision for Alberta's economic future. Now, we're not talking about spending, or savings, or the Heritage Fund today. Neither are we talking about tax policy. Rather, I want to hear about the REAL economy in Alberta. Businesses that Martha and Henry set up, and then go public with - or pass on to their kids.
Among the sectors that could be touched on:
- Energy (traditional and alternative)
- Mining
- Forestry
- Tourism
- Agriculture
- Bio-tech
- Technology
- Manufacturing
- Service
In our lifetimes, the traditional stockpile of petroleum is likely going to become less and less of an economic driver, due to reduced supply or technological advances leading to a reduced demand. How are we going to replace this gigantic piece of Alberta's economic pie?
So, I put it to you, Nation: How would YOU set up Alberta's economy of the future?
If you want to nationalize industry rather than leaving it up to the market, that's your choice... I'll warn you now, though, that I don't think Martha and Henry will go for it...
And thinking outside the box is okay, too... remember, at some point 60 years ago, someone looked at a bald patch of desert and had the words "Las Vegas" pop into his head...
2 comments:
Not much comment.
I think that small businesses are the businesses that we should support and encourage in our province.
Big businesses are doing just fine. They edge out smaller ones by (mis)treating their employees/customers as numbers.
I think Alberta should encourage refineries in-province, so we don't have to waste money shipping oil out-of-province then re-importing it.
A diverse industrial base is probably best (tech, manufacturing, mining, forestry, energy) and the services will grow to support that.
Rather than trying to maintain our current piece of the economic pie, having a fully diverse base in-province could ensure that if things change drastically, our economy could be self-sufficient.
Nationalizing oil and gas -- well, it's a resource owned by the people, so it's natural state is to nationalized... if we want to contract people to extract it for us, or to refine it for us... the resource should still belong to the province.
Something I'd like to see, as a small business owner myself, is some sort of support for small business in terms of helping them navigate the regulatory and taxation regime in their industry for the first few years - being moderately successful ended up COSTING me money, when I had to hire an acocuntant to tell me how much money to send where, whether to file a seperate return for the business or lump it all in under my own tax return as the sole proprietor... it would sure help those of us with good ideas but without Business Administration backgrounds.
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