Balanced Ethical Perspective to State and Local Economic Development Policies

Economic development has become a major policy challenge for state and local governments in the United States for the past two decades. Many studies evaluate these policies from the perspective of political economy but few examine the topic from a balanced ethical perspective. This paper applies natural law theories to evaluate state and local economic development policies and in the process emphasizes the principles of life, friendship, knowledge, beauty, playfulness, and justice. It also stresses the importance of social deliberation in resolving value conflicts in the policymaking process.