A front-page story in the Republic today takes one paragraph from a depressing account of the state’s jobs prospects from yesterday and turns it into an even-more-depressing account.

A very long piece in yesterday’s Republic detailed why Arizona’s economy is so anemic. A long part of the article explored how North Carolina built its Durham-Raleigh-Chapel Hill research triangle:

Once nothing more than an idea envisioned for empty acreage in one of the poorest areas of the Southeast, the “science park” is now an economic-development engine. It has churned out innovations such as Astroturf, bar-code technology and 3-D ultrasounds and employs tens of thousands of workers.
This month the park turns 51.

In other words, that state began to lay a foundation for its future a half-decade ago. Arizona?

A current flash point is the state Department of Commerce. The department’s mission is to recruit businesses and jobs and to link the state, businesses and the economic-development community around the state.
But experts who work with the department say it has not had strong legislative support, is understaffed, is too political and lacks sufficient business advisers. It has had seven directors in the past decade. Its current budget is about $1.86 million. By comparison, the current budget of North Carolina’s Department of Commerce is $45 million.

The story today goes into more depth on the collapse of the department. Quote from a Yuma development director:

“That’s why the state has only done well in economic growth periods,” she said. “We don’t attract industries that have that base, longevity, long-stay. You can’t build an economy on construction, and that’s pretty much what our legislators backed us into because there’s never been any support for economic development.”