Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – It’s no secret that the federal government is the big player when it comes to the region’s economic growth, but federal spending is expected to slow down soon.
“We just need to accept it,” Stephen Fuller, head of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, said. “They are a big part of our economy and they are not going to be as big in the future.”
Speaking to the Council of Governments Wednesday, Fuller questioned what will replace federal funding “as it slows down or possibly declines.”
The biggest decline at the local level is expected on the procurement side.
Fuller said he is reminded on 1975.
“Housing prices were flat or declining. We didn’t lose jobs, but we had a hesitation in the economy,” he said. “It didn’t last long, and it’s hard to say what this one will look like.”
Fuller recommends planning in advance.
“We need to start thinking — as many of the economic development authorities at the local level are — what’s going to drive this economy in the future, and then get prepared to help that take place,” he said.
Fuller expects the housing market to be a stabilizing force as more retirees opt to spend their twilight years in the region. That means new workers arriving to the area will need somewhere to live.
“That’s where the recovery really takes hold,” Fuller said. “that is what has driven the apartment rental market inside the Beltway, which we can see everywhere is just low vacancies and rising rents.”
He also cautioned that the region needs to continue to invest in its public transportation systems because that’s where new potential corporate headquarters will locate.
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