Description:
<jats:p> A panel of the National Academy of Public Administration proposes refraining the federal role in economic development. Drawing on field research in 10 communities, the panel found that federal efforts often suffer from fixation on small, unrelated projects that may benefit one community or constituency but, in the aggregate, do not add up to much. The panel proposes that federal development policy focus on (a) learning-creating a better understanding about how state, regional, and local economies function and about which development strategies work best; (b) leveraging-providing incentives to counteract pressures on state and local development activities to focus on highly visible projects in prosperous areas rather than on long-term regional development strategies that would benefit disadvantaged as well as prosperous people; and (c) linking-consolidating federal programs and making it easier for states and regions to obtain the flexibility to use federal resources effectively. </jats:p>