Eco-Devo Plays While Frankfort Burns

The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development has never, to my mind, justified its existence. OK, maybe during boom times it's cool to a have few people to schmooze corporate execs into doing business in and with Kentucky.

But it's a luxury, like steak dinners at expensive restaurants. It's the first thing you cut out of the budget in lean times.

So why is Eco-Devo just now launching what is obviously an extremely expensive glossy magazine aimed at CEOs who these days rather than seeking new opportunites are probably perusing the small print of their life insurance politices for suicide exclusions?

The Kentucky Economic Development Guide will be a vibrant, newsstand-quality magazine that showcases the best of Kentucky through its people, places and progressive business climate. With all new, original photography and editorial features, the 2009 edition will focus on specific areas of business and economic development; education; industrial, commercial and land offerings; sports and recreation; healthcare and quality of life.

The cost of printing slick, full-color publications like this run into the hundreds of dollars per copy. Times the hundreds of copies they'll print, you're looking at a good half-million bucks.

How many social workers' jobs would $500,000 save? How many foster care beds? How many mine safety inspections?

I'm not familiar with the details of Eco-Devo's plan to cut its budget by 4 percent to help the state bridge a $456 million revenue gap, but if this magazine is an example of an essential service that must be saved, I can't imagine what kind of ludicrous, horrifically wasteful crap got cut.

Or didn't.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.