Univ Hawaii Report Highlights Structural Weaknesses in State’s Economy

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A new report from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) takes a very dim view of the state’s economic profile. The report targets the state’s high cost of living and below average economic growth as drivers of its high levels of outmigration. It notes that the state shouldn’t be compared to high growth, gentrifying regions with high housing costs that experience outmigration, but rather to “economically distressed or “left-behind” regions—marked by stagnant productivity and limited opportunity, though typically with much lower costs of living”. Finally, the report concludes that policy prescriptions shouldn’t only focus on affordability, but also on the underlying causes of the state’s economic stagnation.

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