3 minute read
The Future You Want To Face
Our Hot Topic provided expert insight into the coming years
Yogi Berra once said that it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future; but those that stuck around for day two of the convention were given a peak at a crystal ball. CCM presented “Connecticut Outlook — The Election and our Economy,” two presentations and a panel discussion on the topic of what to expect in the coming year.
Yale Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Cambridge Trust Wealth Management of CT President John Traynor helmed the presentations, and were joined later by Vice President of Public Policy for CBIA Chris Davis, and Senior Executive Director of Federal Advocacy for NLC Irma Esparza Diggs on a panel moderated by the Editor of the Hartford Business Journal, Greg Bordonaro.
If you took the entire presentation and tried to distill the message our guests had for towns and cities, it might boil down to — “it depends;” the famous Yankee might have been on to something with his aphorism, after all.
Traynor, who took a steely-eyed financial approach to his soothsaying, was optimistic about the economic shape of the State and Country. In his opinion, we were past high inflation and we were as solid on unemployment as we could be. This strength, he said, will carry on into 2025 — “rising productivity has been a surprise in 2024 and it’s continued strength in 2025 argues well for employment and wage growth.”
But that optimism was undercut by concerns of slowing immigration. Connecticut’s population growth is due to immigration, and the country as a whole is likely to avoid population collapses like are expected in China and India. Over the next 75 years, with no immigration, the country as a whole would experience the loss of over 100 million people — which will have negative economic implications.
Sonnenfeld, who had a bit of Yogi’s humor, was equally concerned with workforce development and loss of population, tying his perspective on “brain drain.” Connecticut, for him, has had an immense turnaround of fortunes thanks to defense contracting, biotech engineering, and financial service — all of which require a pool of skilled workers.
In order to keep that cycle going, according to Traynor on the later panel, the state needs to retain the graduates from our elite colleges and expand beyond the big five cities — urging the exurbs and suburbs of New Haven, for example, to look at how Massachusetts invested in the areas around and beyond Boston when it comes to biotech.
Overall, the panel agreed that there are still roadblocks for Connecticut to reach its full potential. Both Diggs and Davis agreed that Connecticut needs to look at how other states are managing problems with things like investment in infrastructure — and making sure that municipal leaders are the individuals that are “convening the table” of experts to get projects on track.
Municipal leaders need consistency and dependability to set budgets and create growth — but too often it’s hard to read the tea leaves, to see where the winds of change are blowing, and unfortunately, even the best laid plans often go awry. The presenters and panelists at the hot topic were at least able to draw back the curtains for a moment, leaving those who listened better prepared for whatever future we may get.
