Let’s compare protectionism in Beverly Hills with protectionism in the United States. Protectionism is a termused to label specific economic policies or doctrines that a government adopts to ‘protect’ workers and businesses in its territory. Protectionism directly influences a free market by providing incentives for citizens and businesses to purchase goods from sources that more positively effect its economy. In our case it’s protecting Beverly Hills by urging consumers not to go out of the triangle for their needs. Protectionism in B.H. and in the U.S. may appear a fitting comparison because the world looks to the U.S., just as L.A. and online markets look to Beverly Hills—but it is not!
The problem with the U.S. adopting protectionist laws is that other nations respond by adopting their own protectionist laws which damage imports and exports, and can cause more harm than good depending on your perspective. My hypothesis is that if Beverly Hills adopts its own protectionist laws or better yet…if residents adopt certain protectionist principles it would better stimulate our economy with the pros…greatly out weighing the cons.
Case in point: Exporting dollars out of our city to those who do notreturn the favor. At first glance it might seem as though we are saving money buying cheaper, but this is an illusion. People need to understand that saving a few dollars shopping outside of Beverly Hills is a major reason behind the gloomy outlook of our town. As tax dollars and services funnel out of our city—our property values go down and we end up losing mo re than we saved. The more businesses that are forced to close their doors—the more value we lose as a city. Rent, property value, retail and business income can go down the drain fast. In a flash store fronts take on the feel of a ghost town. I’m as much for saving money as the next person when it comes to shopping for a deal, but in reality the short-term savings do not outweigh the long-term negative effects, especially in this economy. It would be foolish to believe that Beverly Hills can survive anything. A short-term down turn in revenue can have residents and long-time business owners packing up and leaving town. Most of us know some one who has already jumped ship.
If we allow our businesses to fail and turn our city into a “for lease” haven, we lose the appeal that we are known for. After all this is Beverly Hills, and regardless of how good or bad business is, when people come to town they expect to see the rich and the famous and the streets lined with stores that aren’t empty. We should not wait for this problem to fix itself, especially when we see the number of businesses that have already moved. I say stick together and buy and hire locally. In the end we only help ourselves and the future financial outlook of our city. Retaining the value of business in Beverly Hills means that we have to support and keep open the doors of our own. Keeping the biggest little city in the world in a moving forward—if not a thriving mode—is an attraction in itself to draw dollars back to our streets.
Residents and business owners need to leave their bomb shelters, step up to the plate and be leaders, or this financial free fall could turn out worse than it needs to be. Think about it and email me your thoughts, I would love to brainstorm with you and figure out a solution to this problem.
:::By Stephen Takowsky
