Someone said to me this week that I have a “real passion for economic development” – right after I got on a soapbox and starting making my stump speech about the need for more investment, more good paying jobs, more infrastructure, etc.
I don’t know. I thought about it. It’s not really ‘passion’. It’s more like curiosity. I am curious about the study and practice of how economies evolve and what Atlantic Canada could do to reverse polarity of its economic fortunes. I’d truly like to see a prosperous and successful New Brunswick. A place people are moving to – not away from. A place that is contributing to – not taking away from the national economy. A place that is a leading economy, not a trailing one.
But it’s not really ‘passion’. I think that word was co-opted by business schools in the 1980s and now has worked its way everywhere. We are ‘passionate’ about making cars or passionate about telecommunications. Maybe that’s why divorce has gone up.
Not really. In fact, if we are passionate about our businesses – that’s pretty boring. Let’s be passionate about our spouses, families and even communities. But not the nuts and bolts of economies. That’s just a means to and end.