While many companies are "good neighbors" to the communities they locate in, their primary motivation is profitability. For this reason, policy-makers ought to consider whether or not companies will stick around long enough to re-pay public subsidies that tend to be front loaded.

"The biggest concern that massive ecomomic calamity, instability, and desperation brings to my mind is the willingness of the masses in three Western European governments to respond to their respective economic crises in the 20th Century with the adoption of fascist regimes. Brings us back to those 14 common characteristics enumerated by Lawrence Britt in his essay on fascist states."

Yes, and I think efforts to mitigate the debt disaster in Greece are informed by historical events in Europe, proper.

Don't leave local citizens and taxpayers off the list of those deserving thanks! Without those subsidies, caterpillar may have crawled away.

A general theme equates out-of-control debt with government disintegration. Perhaps a more nuanced view would be one that sees debt troubles as precursors to political volatility, or political uncertainty?* Where, for example, a civil rights champion might become a segregationist; or where a member of the EU might leave that Union and reintroduce the Drachma.

*What impact would widening political turmoil produce on the global economy? How do city/county debt problems affect local economies? Do fiscal problems invite opportunists and reformers?

@Blake Aued: Thanks for the numbers, and great coverage of this fast-moving development!

@adamrush: That is a sobering article and something the public needs to keep in mind: Caterpillar is a competitor on the international scene, and puts its own interests above those of any given community.

That should serve to remind the excited leaders, and townsfolk, that the local job market remains subject to the vagaries of the global economy. Moreover, steep subsidies from taxpayers to private firms may or may not be repaid.

As they say, "Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan."

"Attempts at prohibition didn’t work with alcohol. And let’s be honest: It hasn’t worked with drugs. Why would we expect it to work with tobacco?"

Finally! Some sense about the smoking debate from someone in the media!!

Strictly-speaking, the American citizens could Prohibit the use of tobacco products as was done with alcohol. I don't have time to re-count THAT popular history, but I'd say it teaches that there are limits to our ability to control behavior and that exceeding those limits brings about unexpected consequences that are more dire that the original harm we were trying to lessen.

Even with this scintilla of good sense from the Marietta Daily Journal, the legislative process is chock-full at local and state levels of back-door prohibition rules against smoking. I'd argue they'll have the same effects as front-door prohibition. Finally, its clear to me, that, this global war against tobacco is both well-meaning and fatally flawed. For instance, the enormous public resources devoted to "protecting" non-smokers from second hand smoke, represent a grave misappropriation of public health resources that could and should be spent to cure and prevent the many real health conditions from which the public suffers. I know the CDC wants full funding for its new wing devoted to ending the use of tobacco; but spending that money against malaria or even to fund health clinics around the state would be a much wiser use of funds.

"she created a diverse multidisciplinary group with conviction, passion and a unified desire to improve our community."

Let's imagine local government wanted to build a rocket that could reach earth orbit? Would they recruit a 'diverse multidisciplinary group with conviction, and passion,' or would they hand-pick a few folks who actually know what they are talking about?

As for public input, let me give it to you: WE NEED MORE JOBS!!

Here's what you do:

1. Get 316 fixed. Sue GA-DOT or beg for some of that Obama money: Hey, it's shovel ready!

2. Plumb the local water supply business. Is there enough water, or not? If we need a larger supply, then figure out a way to accomplish that goal.

That's about it!

Finally, write a letter to local elected officials and tell them ...

1. Either raise taxes or cut spending in order to put the local public schools and the local government on a stable fiscal basis. If we have a "blow-up" in the press about nearly bankrupt schools, etc., this could KILL the ability to recruit employers.

2. Hey it's America! If you want to encourage the capitalistic spirit then ...

A. Emphasize local order.
1. Are property rights adequately protected?
2. Is their a fair and cheap resolution process for disputes?
3. Do local residents feel safe in their homes?

Now, then, I was so happy to read Mr. Tribble's piece and I hope they are very successful. You wanted input, there you go.

Such prosecutions remain a rarity. In reality, most of them got away with it.

Ms. Blackmon continues to burnish her liberal credentials, and that's fine by me! One can imagine experiences in our daily lives that might make us a die hard gun advocate, or an impassioned Quaker. The much longer trend in American history is one that has seen gun use diminish. The liberals ought to ask themselves why many perceive a need to broaden gun-access laws.

@imseekingthetruth: I certainly do agree that drunk driving increases the risk of an accident; but most traffic fatalities are not linked to drunk driving. Would you, I wonder, treat other offenses like speeding, texting, or talking on a cell phone as though they were "murder?" And, even if you would, do you think our law enforcement and judicial system could really handle treating such errant behaviors as "murder?"

I think your single-minded focus on drinking, per se, is extremely selfish and when put into law, such outrage actually increases highway accidents because it focuses most enforcement efforts on drinking, while other behaviors are ignored or punished much less harshly.

Corruption in law enforcement is nothing new and its something that will always have to be managed. My point, though, is that policy-makers could help avoid corruption if they'd be more thoughtful in the legislative process.

I agree with the commenter who said the ABH and Blake Aued have done a good job covering this late-breaking and fast moving development.

While emphasizing the positive, clearly these new jobs will not nearly make-up for all the ones lost over the past few decades. Hence, the growth potential of Athens remains somewhat negative as many still must go elsewhere to find satisfactory employment; and this trend has tracked the decline in jobs, locally, for many years.

Some questions or perspective I'd like to see vis a vis similar news stories would include:

1. How effective are public investments in attracting jobs? Does anyone calculate a "break-even" point where public subsidies equal the "pay back" of the new firm to the larger community?

2. Given the secrecy involved, are their proper safeguards against political graft and payoffs?

3. Can local educational institutions curtail their own spending and allow government authorities to utilize some of their excess spending, instead, to subsidize local industry?

PS: You have some good questions, AdamR, that ought to be answered.

Unfortunately, government agency leaders, including those at UGA, apparently never got beyond the triage stage when confronted with the bitter fruits of financial crisis. This means that the tough work of re prioritizing spending -- and an associated cleaning-up of the way tax payer monies are accounted for -- has not been done. Moreover, the credibility of academic leaders at many levels might have been reduced even further.

Instead of plumbing the depths of the global financial crisis and attempting to learn and respond to its message, most leaders seem to have simply adopted a new politeness in dealing with revenue-starved politicians; and hoped that the good times would shortly renew so that they could go back to their old spending habits (that were influenced, mostly, by whatever it says in the chronicle of higher education; and whether or not more "hot money" could be captured by a friendly authority peddling "education bonds" SEE cause of housing price bubble, and collapse; its the same thing in education!) Finally, there is some evidence that some in education have used the financial crisis, per se, to influence government spending: (1. The University System claims it can "leap-frog" ahead of competing systems if it will spend more when they spend less; 2. The University system inflated estimates of its contribution to the larger economy and claimed, variously, that the harshness of the financial crisis was caused by spending too little on the System; or that reducing and not expanding spending could cause a repeat of the financial crisis; 3. Virtually every component of the education system (K12, tech, Univ. Sys.) has utilized a potent and expanding arsenal of public relations weapons to both protect their budgets and make the case for increases; 4. Chronically mismanaged school systems and other organizations have blamed recent state cutbacks for the severe financial crises they find themselves engulfed in; usually, they get great backing for such nostrums from the media who buys the story hook-line-and-sinker and thus, encourage an even lesser level of accountability for the fiscal management of education, generally; and, of course, make the crisis much worse and consequential.)

Apparently, however, state education leaders have been successful in their beggar-thy-neighbor policy that has protected already bloated education spending when nearly every other state agency dealt with significant cut-backs. In other words, one wonders if the public-at-large might lose confidence in our education leaders? And then, what would happen to the support and funding of higher education?

A better way to ask that loaded question might be: "Will the fiscal reality breach the expensive and extensive public relations efforts we see put up by K12, technical, and University system institutions? Will education leaders be seen as the boy who cried wolf? Will scandal a la Joe Pa stand-in for a recognized financial collapse and accomplish the same thing?" (APS cheating scandal; sexual scandal, cited; etc.)

What will they think of next?!.

Elected policy-makers could help Chief Lumpkin and other law enforcement officers in their never-ending battle to prevent or end official corruption such as taking bribes. In order to do so, they might consider the fact that one motivation for bribery involves a perception that a criminal offense is improperly or falsely applied; or applied in a capricious manner. Moreover, with GA leading the US in its incarceration rate; and with the U.S. leading the WORLD in the incarceration rate of its citizens, might it be time to consider reducing the number of laws on the books; reducing fines and punishment for DUI in-line with other behaviors that are related to 'reckless driving;' or re-prioritizing enforcement to minimize jail time and lengthy prison sentences?

1. The new 'Mini-Prohibition' among youngsters 18-20 years old could be ended by amending federal law so that states are not punished, financially, if they lower their drinking age below 21 yo. Such a move could also curtail the thriving fake ID business and an increasing criminalization of the young whose offense is drinking a beer or other alcoholic beverage. In the interim, ACC and UGA police could revert to issuing simple citations rather than taking the time-consuming and expensive path of booking the young drinkers into the jail.

2. GA, and other states, could either legalize gambling, including the private administration of the same OR it could end the state-sanctioned support for gambling through the HOPE program. As is, many citizens view the hypocrisy of state-sanctioned gambling as an affront to their sense of justice. As such, their respect for the law, and respect for those who enforce it is diminished; like minded officers are apt to be receptive to offers of money in order to look the other way.

"This project brings back some of the traditional manufacturing jobs we have lost over the past decades and gives a significant number of people in our community and the region new job opportunities."

I hope mayor Denson speaks for the rest of our local and state elected officials in releasing such a statement.

The housing bubble masked the exodus of countless production and manufacturing jobs from GA and the Athens area.

This ratcheted-down the opportunities for a "living wage," and helped boost local poverty and crime rates and may have even been a factor in the "hopelessness" often associated with the decision to drop-out of high school or college.

Like it or not, local, state and federal officials must become schooled in international business, and trade issues. The firms that left NE Georgia mostly relocated production facilities abroad, and that trend needs to be stopped and reversed.

Athens is home to many helpful and friendly people who've helped deal with the joblessness and hopelessness sometimes associated with a declining real economy (when service-sector jobs begin to predominate the local employment universe). Their efforts ought to be applauded, but they should be challenged to "think outside the box" and consider whether or not their caring is enough. Politically, U.S. workers are in for a tough fight to renew decent job opportunities and, hence, place large swaths of government and its various programs on a sustainable basis.

If the 2006 financial crisis and its ensuing macro effects on local, state, and federal budgets, unemployment, and spending on associated compensatory benefits has taught any lesson, it might be one that should gird citizens and political leaders to focus first and last on jobs that manufacture items that can be exported. Many of the nice things unique to Athens -- such as UGA, the Civic Center, and even the music scene -- can only exist and thrive if there is an economic engine throwing-off enough revenue to support them. Without that engine and those jobs, many of the fruits of civilization are imperiled and might waste away as austerity measures seek to pay for basic human needs, for instance, before investing in higher education, parks or green ways.

But "globalism," per se is not a modern concept and history demonstrates time and again that it can collapse.

The Ralston/Shafer plan is nearly as far-fetched as the proposals from the so-called environmentalists.

Speaking of economic development, local leaders would do well to continue lobbying for a "fix" for GA 316. A limited-access connection to a major interstate might be a key bit of infrastructure.

One would expect the legislative delegation to introduce and pass a law that OKs the mayor-and-commission-approved changes. Alternatively, the state reps could simply decline to pass the necessary law and stick the mayor and commission with the old lines and an admonition to "go back to the drawing board." (Then, future elections would be conducted under the old lines until the impasse is overcome.)

Ed's gentle lament about the mysterious disappearance of whites from the history of the civil rights movement is a waste of time. I wonder if he'd be willing to look at some modern-day arrangements and notions that go unchallenged in society?

Pretty good coverage of an important local issue.

Wait, wait! Don't tell me!!!

If Ireland asked for write-offs from lenders like those for Greece, it could pave the way for similar demands from Portugal and perhaps larger debtor countries like Spain and Italy.

“The Pandora’s box has been opened for Ireland and Portugal,” and possibly for other countries, Mr. Weinberg said. “We don’t know where this goes.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/business/global/after-accord-in-athens...

Let's just wait, and see, if Ireland and Portugal want a "Jamie" Deal???!!!

And, what happens to a nations politics (and its citizens) when its fiscal house is NOT in order???

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/world/europe/greeks-start-48-hour-stri...

Why can't the Greeks simply borrow more money and spend it to pump up their economy? Hasn't stimulus spending worked in the West?

This tour reflects a growing trend among taxpayer supported social institutions towards much higher levels of spending on public relations efforts. Seen from the outside, one might get the idea that the "powers-that-be" believe there exists some threat that needs to be countered with barrages of taxpayer funded public relations campaigns. In the case of the CCSD, this is especially puzzling in that an overwhelming majority of voters supported their last ELOST referendum.

(Other signs of stepped-up PR campaigns among taxpayer funded institutions might include: Athens Tech's recent hiring of two journalist PR professionals; UGAs massive investment in IT facilities, PR corps, and websites; ACC's new official website and its associated investment in technology and various IT folks devoted not to providing services but to publicizing "all the good things" that government does for the lucky taxpayers.)

Still, sober policy makers ought to quietly begin to look at the amount of monies that are going towards PR efforts. Those amounts might suggest a motivation for covering-up wrongdoing; an effort to distract attention away from corruption, scandal, or poor financial management; or a simple bid to use advertising to open-up citizens wallets or to similarly, keep them open. (Attempts to increase budgets or to head-off attempts to reduce spending.)

@42roadmut: Yes, my comments were too harsh, but I am not going to change them because in their harshness they help illuminate a view quite apart from Doc or Pete's .... and if there is a theme to anything I've ever written it is that to succeed Athens is going to have to try something DIFFERENT!

And, of course, FLAGPOLE, per se, has sponsored over the years some very creative and imaginative writers. The downtown scene has benefited from Flagpole and shown its gratitude with its ad dollars.

Finally, I left out the great, overwhelming power of U.GA. as a colonizing agent in Athens: They've got the money to buy anyone or anything and they completely drown-out the voices of locals any time they feel the need to do so. Still, I'd not advocated a forced march of UGA to Bogart, or anything. The result of all these things ... is Athens.