Today, before writing this piece and while surfing the Web, I ran across a course guide on the topic of economic development that listed the required and recommended readings. At the end of the list was the statement - "Everything by Tim Bartik." Kind of says it all, doesn't it?
Dr. Timothy Bartik, after teaching at Vanderbilt University, has been based at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research since 1989 as a Senior Economist. His specialties include: regional economics, public finance, urban economics, and labor economics.
Tim is a one-man research institute. His book, Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies, is a classic already. His work, Jobs for the Poor: Can Labor Demand Policies Help was named one or the noteworthy books in Labor Economics in 2001 by the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University.
Other must-reads include: "Solving the Problems of Economic Development Incentives," "Thinking About Local Living Wage Requirements," "Economic Development Policy in Michigan," "Poverty, Jobs and Subsidized Employment," "Can Economic Development Policies Be Evaluated," "Increasing the Economic Development Benefits of Higher Education in Michigan," "The Role of Public Policy in the Skills Development of Black Workers in the 21st Century," and "Taking Preschool Evaluation Seriously as an Economic Development Program: Effects on Jobs and Earnings of State Residents Compared to Traditional Economic Development Programs." (The reader should note that this is but the tip of a large body of original research and writing. Many can be found on the Upjohn Institute website.)
Bartik has a talent for writing clear prose about important subjects with economic rigor. This is no small talent.
Always generous with his time and willing to share his insights and help you untangle your convoluted thoughts, Tim is a good soul, an economist with a heart. But, if you state and write something that is not credible, eventually you will hear from Tim. And he is usually right. In my view, Tim has made one of the largest single contributions to elevating the quality of discourse and research in the field of economic development over the past 20 years.
So, let's say that you want to practice economic development in the US, Canada, or Western Europe and be on top of your game. You want to set aside the how-to guides and the public relations documents for a while and read an independent thinker. What's my advice? Check first with Bartik.