When business is bad, businesses can’t cut their expenses across the board. Moving to a cheaper location costs a bundle, and a bad location costs you even more business (not to mention that your customers can’t find you.) You can’t reduce the payments on the capital goods you bought three years ago.

But companies that reduce their advertising during bad times end up losing market share. The businesses that survive best in bad times are those that spend more on marketing, so that they can keep their highly skilled workforce busy.

Similarly, families can either give up, or they can hustle. Some people can find a part-time job to supplement their income. Others plant a victory garden, or start a mower repair business in the garage in order to increase their family resources.

The Commonwealth competes with 49 other states, and over 100 other countries for businesses. Businesses need infrastructure to survive, and if the business is privately owned, it’s usually located where the owner wants to live. Cutting back sounds sensible, but that’s the kind of penny-wise, pound-foolish logic that liberals exhibit. The conservative thing for the state to do is what smart businesses and smart families do: fighting, instead of just giving up. When other states are turning into an unpleasant place to live and work, a state that keeps the lights on is going to be attractive to business – and that’s important to Pennsylvania’s long-term fortunes.