UCF\u2019s Institute for Economic Competitiveness<\/a>, Florida \u201cscores\u201d among the lowest of its 49 counterparts in several key economic indicators, including overall tax burden, expenditures and the number of government employees.<\/p>\nDespite some lawmakers\u2019 concerns about the recent growth of federal government, Snaith says Florida leaders shouldn\u2019t be afraid to expand state government and should stop gutting much-needed programs and institutions vital to the state\u2019s long-term survival.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just went through a legislative session where, instead of raising taxes to plug some of the budget shortfall, we further gutted funding of higher education and pulled more teachers from the classroom,\u201d Snaith says. \u201cOne of the rallying cries for this short-sighted policy decision was that taxes are \u2018too high\u2019 and government is \u2018too big.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Also noteworthy in Snaith\u2019s forecast are his predictions about statewide unemployment. Jobless numbers released Friday from the state showed Florida\u2019s unemployment rate at 10.2 percent — the highest since October 1975, when unemployment hit 11 percent.<\/p>\n
Snaith doesn\u2019t expect Florida\u2019s jobless numbers to go down anytime soon. He says it will take until 2018 to return to the 2008 unemployment rate average of about 6 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state\u2019s labor markets will serve as a lasting reminder of the economic ordeal that Florida has been through,\u201d he said. \u201cYears after the recession officially ends, our unemployment rate will be the unsightly scar on Florida\u2019s economy that refuses to fade.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snaith\u2019s forecast offers predictions through 2039 for Florida and its 12 metropolitan regions. Those areas are Naples, Daytona Beach-Deltona, Gainesville, Ocala, Lakeland, Palm Bay-Melbourne, Pensacola, Miami, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Tampa Bay and Orlando.<\/p>\n
Long-term forecasts help decision-makers in the public and private sectors plan future projects. \u201cThat\u2019s why we produce a 30-year forecast annually,\u201d Snaith says. \u201cTransportation planners, school districts, developers, utilities and others need a picture of what Florida\u2019s economy will look like decades from now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snaith\u2019s entire forecast is available at\u00a0http:\/\/www.iec.ucf.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big government? High taxes? A University of Central Florida economist says Florida lawmakers\u2019 aversion to both could prolong the state\u2019s recovery from the financial crisis and dampen future growth. According to a 30-year economic forecast released today by Sean Snaith, director of UCF\u2019s Institute for Economic Competitiveness, Florida \u201cscores\u201d among the lowest of its 49 counterparts in several key economic…","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":3837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1490,2303,4194],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-3836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-economy","tag-institute-for-economic-competitiveness","tag-sean-snaith"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Economist: Florida's Small Government Prolongs Painful Recovery | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Big government? 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