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Ideas and intelligence.
“The bottom line is, you make money today not with your hands, but with your head,” he said during the 7 Rivers Region Economic Indicators breakfast Tuesday morning at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Ward is founder and president of Madison-based Northstar Economics Inc., a private economic consulting and research firm that develops and implements economic development strategies. He also spent 31 years in the UW System as a professor and administrator.
The “idea” century is a change from 100 years ago, when the nation was largely agrarian, and 50 years ago, when the country shifted to manufacturing, Ward said.
But to be a producer of those ideas requires a larger investment in higher education from Wisconsin, he added.
“We are not supporting higher education to the extent we should,” he said. “Whether it’s a political fight over various ideology, or whatever it is, and in some cases it’s the university itself hurting itself, we need to get it right. Not for the university’s sake, not for the sake of the politicians, but for the sake of the students of future generations.”
Data from the 2000 Census show about 22 percent of Wisconsin residents have at least a bachelor’s degree, below the national average of about 24 percent. Those with college degrees earn at least $23,000 more a year than those with a just high school diploma — a $1 million difference over a lifetime, Ward said.
After his speech, Ward stressed that Wisconsin citizens have to make it clear they understand the future of the state is linked to higher education. Politicians will pay attention to that, he added.
Communication also needs to be improved between K-12 education and higher education, as well as with the business and agencies working on workforce development and economic development.
“They are not communicating as well as we should,” he added.
There are signs of slowing economic growth, said UW-L economics professor Taggert Brooks, who gave an update on economic indicators for the region.
“Gas prices are falling,” Brooks said. “I know a lot of us think that’s good news. But it might be caused by something that’s not good news,” a slowing economy.
Brooks said the slowdown in the housing market is a concern because growth in home equity had been fueling consumer spending.
Although housing prices have continued to rise, he said, the pace has slowed substantially. He said home prices in this area didn’t rise as sharply as they did on both coasts, so they won’t fall as much if prices decline. “Which should insulate our local economy from any kind of shock,” Brooks added.
On another topic, Brooks said immigrants overall are a benefit, and only comprise
2 percent of the area’s population.
