PowerBlog Review: Economic Development Futures

Editor's note: This is the seventh in our popular weekly series of PowerBlog Reviews of other weblogs...





Economic Development Futures is a blog containing "Information and Insights About Where Economic Development is Headed." It is a detailed resource for the latest happenings in the field of economic development, including business, government, social and cultural issues.



ED Futures has been on the Web since late 2002. The site is run by Don Iannone. Don is an economic development professional and former university professor located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.



ED Futures takes a global view. It covers economic development happenings across the developed world. In a typical week you might find posts relating to regions as geographically diverse as Mexico, Israel, China, Tibet, Canada, the Phillipines, Australia, and various states within the U.S.



What I like best about this weblog is the way Don takes brave, even controversial, stands and asserts his views.



Take, for instance, this post about productivity gains and offshore outsourcing. Don, lamenting what he perceives as a near total lack of proactive solutions on how to deal with the problem of offshore outsourcing, proposes his own solution. He suggests something novel: encourage, incentivize, even pressure foreign companies to lay down roots in the U.S. and do business here.



In other words, he suggests embracing globalization instead of being the victim of it. While not everyone may agree with Don, virtually everyone will respect him for being one of the few voices to offer up a proactive solution on this challenging and polarizing issue.



Don is a disciplined, prolific blogger, averaging 3 or more posts each day. He posts virtually every day, except possibly when he is travelling on speaking engagements or to consult with cities and regions about economic development.



ED Futures is accompanied by a free newsletter that reaches out and keeps readers informed about posts of note on the blog. Both the blog and the newsletter are important marketing components of Don's consulting business.



ED Futures is also the subject of a case study by colleague Barbara Payne, as part of her series about using blogs for business.





The Power: The power of the Economic Development Futures blog is the in-depth treatment of its subject matter -- economic development -- and the courageous way it addresses thorny issues of our time. For anyone trying to understand the broader economic environment in which businesses operate today, ED Futures can help navigate the way.