Thanks to my capable student assistant, Deborah Keeth, we were able to produce the indicators that you see on this Internet site. Since the prerequisites for Economics 309 do not include any prior experience with spreadsheet programs such as Excel, or with analysis of data, Debbi conducted a series of clinics in which she helped students learn how to find data, use Excel to graph data, and how to analyze and interpret data. Near the end of the project, in April 2000, we were able to bring in Lucy Blake of the Sierra Business Council as the Watson Lecturer for 2000. Later in 2000 Lucy was awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. Lucy provided supportive and helpful comments for the students.
I decided to continue working on this project with my class in 2001. This year we expanded the scope of information that the project covers, including both Green Business Reports and Industry Cluster analysis. We also decreased the geographic area that the indicator anaylsis covers to include just Humboldt County.
The goal of these indicators is to provide objective data on the state of the region. The "capitals" represent a broadening of economics to include the stocks from which flow the human, social, constructed, and environmental goods and services that are required by a sustainable society. While traditional economic indicators such as the Index of Economic Activity for Humboldt County focus on human and constructed capital and commercial economic activity, there is a growing recognition that the environment and the social capital that binds communities together are also essential for a sustainable society. While these values may not be manifested in commercial market activity, they nonetheless have an economic dimension, and we cannot have a clear sense of the health of our society without taking into account environmental and social factors. For each indicator the students use the Sierra Business Council approach of responding to two questions: "how are we doing?" and "why is this important?"
Steven Hackett