Doyle to reveal Tower Automotive plan

John Schmid reports in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that
Gov. Doyle has announced package of economic development incentives, his second such proposal since he took office. One site he hopes could benefit is the large Milwaukee facility of bankrupt Tower Automotive, once A. O. Smith's. Schmid also reports on the context of the initiative.

David J. Ward, president of Northstar Economics, a Madison-based public-policy group, conducted a study that has alarmed the state's establishment.

Ward traced the state's growth in per-capita income from 1973 to 1998 and found that the state's growth (2.3%) lagged behind the U.S. average (2.8%) by a half-percentage point.

Extrapolating the trend for another 25 years (1999 to 2024) gives Wisconsin an average income of $40,598, which is 83% of the national average of $48,803.

Only 11 states currently have 83% or less than the national average, including Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

"Wisconsin is in a slow-growth trap," Ward said.