"It is not what fields a state competes in that determines its prosperity, but how productively it competes."

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Those words are from a presentation by Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter at the Mackinac Policy Conference on June 2, 2011 in Michigan. The title of his presentation was “Michigan Competitiveness: Creating an Economic Strategy in a Time of Austerity.” It is a good message for all states. Some of his key points:

Competitiveness is the productivity with which a state utilizes its human, capital, and natural endowments to create value;

Productivity determines wages, jobs, and the standard of living;

It is not what fields a state competes in that determines its prosperity, but how productively it competes; and

Businesses and government play different but interrelated roles in creating a productive economy.

Only businesses can create jobs and wealth.

States and regions compete to offer the most productive environment for business.

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