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Hawaii's 1997 economic stagnation generates three competing diagnoses. George Mason, publisher emeritus of Pacific Business News, blames political apathy — only 46% of eligible citizens voted in the last two elections, tourism is underfunded with a "ridiculous" $10 million state budget, and business lacks the solidarity labor has. Jim Brewer counters that Hawaii's troubles mirror a national split between Wall Street superprofits and a Main Street depression of stagnant wages, and calls for raising the minimum wage to a living level. Dan Boylan, history professor and television host, finds both men partially right: business has long been politically timid because five decades of Democratic dominance force it to cultivate the same politicians it might otherwise oppose. Callers push back on the "bloated government" claim, noting Hawaii funds education, airports, harbors, and prisons at state level — costs that fall on counties elsewhere. Discussion turns concrete on the Jones Act, subdivision permitting delays running five to seven years versus five to seven weeks in Nevada, and whether Hawaii's general excise tax functions as a 16% sales tax. Each guest closes with prescriptions — higher voter turnout, a living wage, an independent spending commission — but agrees on little beyond the pain.
Transcript
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Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
