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Originally Posted by matt602
Hamilton is it's own city, not a bedroom community. We have our own university, many colleges, hospitals and a strong business/manufacturing sector. Hamilton isn't some sprawl town suburb like Burlington, Oakville, Brampton, Oshawa, York Region, etc.
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In a cultural/political sense, you're right. Hamilton is a distinct place, and our goal as citizens should be to cultivate Hamilton's distinction as a desirable community and a destination in its own right.
But in a strictly economic sense, it's more complex. Richard Florida argues that Hamilton is part of a mega-region that stretches from Toronto to Buffalo (determined through the ingenious method of mapping contiguously lighted areas visible from satellite photos taken at night) and that our economic success is broadly tied to the success of the region as a whole - a region of which Toronto is unquestionably at the wheel, economically speaking.
That's not to say Hamilton can't carve out an important and distinct niche within that larger regional economy. I still believe we should be focusing our energies on cultivating Richard Gilbert's vision of Hamilton as a centre of innovation for energy conservation and production.
Let Toronto have finance: we'll never beat them at their game, so let's cultivate our own game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drpgq
Hell we don't even have our own bank, whereas practically every podunk place in the U.S. does.
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That's mainly a function of different banking rules between the US and Canada. Thanks to decades of smart, sensible regulation, Canada is widely regarded to have the best banking system in the world - even if it is dominated by the Big Five, which have proven remarkably resilient against the crises, panics and runs that regularly cripple banks in the US and Europe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drpgq
Plus look at the huge number of Ontario government employees on the $100,000 list that just came out. Where are a huge proportion of them located? Downtown Toronto.
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Not surprising, since that's where the Ontario Legislature is located.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drpgq
People sometimes ask me why I'm against increased public sector spending. Part of it is that I have a bit of a libertarian bent, but part of it is that I love Hamilton and increased public sector spending drains the life away from communities like Hamilton over time and increases the primacy of capitals like Toronto and Ottawa.
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I'm all for a) robust countercyclical stimulus spending during a recession to kickstart the economy and avoid a liquidity trap; and b) public investment in critical infrastructure that will facilitate economic growth.
Unfortunately, in Hamilton we have too often gone for public apparatus as a general replacement for economic growth during both good times and bad, instead of addressing the structural problems that discourage investment in Hamilton.
It's quite depressing that HHS is the biggest employer in Hamilton, given that public facilities don't pay property tax and there is virtually no opportunity for spinoff development. That's not to say I oppose public investment in not-for-profit medical research and innovation; but it shouldn't be seen as a substitute for economic development.
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