The Outstater
Build It and They Will Come
A FEW OF US have spent considerable time trying to find a simple illustration of how the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) works.
Are they trying to mimic a bank in some sloppy way or a Chamber of Commerce? More specifically, how is it a good idea to leverage government money to bet on random enterprises, some of which may only extract wealth from our community rather than invest in it? Is the primary purpose to announce a ribbon-cutting with a political claim to have created a certain number of jobs? Is it all about concrete and rebar?
We get hung up on the difference in incentives between the typical IEDC setup and the old-fashioned, almost forgotten, community bank. Such banks had special knowledge of their town and the personality of the particular business needing financing.
Because these banks were risking in directly accountable ways their own money, that of their officers and shareholders, they were organized to expertly assess that risk — in both character and ledger, both short term and long, and whether profit aside it would be good for their fellow townspeople.
Anyway, I think I’ve found a better analogy to the IEDC. It is the Papua New Guinea “cargo cult.” You can think of it as an indigenous Chamber of Commerce but let my assistant, Grok, tell the history:
During WWII, the Allies set up military bases on remote Pacific islands to support the war effort against Japan. Massive amounts of “cargo” — food, weapons, medicine, clothing, and supplies — were airdropped or shipped in, dramatically transforming local life for the islanders who had little prior contact with the West.
When the war ended, the planes stopped coming. Some islanders responded by creating rituals and ceremonies designed to summon the cargo back. They built mock airstrips, bamboo “control towers,” and wooden airplanes or radios.They marched in formation with sticks as rifles, waving signal flags and performing drills.
Cargo cults illustrate a universal human tendency: When faced with something powerful and mysterious, people often replicate the visible symbols and behaviors rather than grasping the deeper mechanisms (e.g., economics).
Those of you who have followed a full-blown IEDC campaign will recognize the parallels, especially in regard to clearing land for industrial parks, the display of scale architectural models and the ceremonial press conferences in full businessman-like attire. — tcl
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