It's easy to find shortcomings in the Indiana economy these days. We're still in the grip of a national economic recession, and recessions have never been kind to manufacturing-intensive economies such as ours. We've seen a nearly two billion dollar state budget surplus replaced with a three quarter million dollar budget deficit in a very short span of time. And even one of our finest accomplishments -- our higher-than-average rate of home ownership -- has come back to cause us pain in the form of higher rates of mortgage delinquency and foreclosure.

We're hardly the only state in the nation that is taking our lumps, of course. And since the biggest problem that ails us all -- the slumping national economy -- is largely outside our control, there's little to be done for now but to bandage the wounds and wait for the national economy to recover.

But there is a growing sense among policymakers in Indiana that more decisive action is needed to put the economy on a faster growth track. The loss of corporate headquarters, the out-migration of educated young people, and the deterioration in our relative standard of living were all happening before this recession began, and will likely be with us when it leaves town as well.

Moreover, in the teeth of a recession there is always the gnawing fear that the jobs being lost will never come back. For the state as a whole, at least, that fear is probably not justified. Our historical experience coming out of past recessions suggests that the economy will grow back, although the recovery period will be longer than most of us would like. But for individual industries and communities, there is no question that a recession can permanently change the economic landscape, forcing unpleasant changes on families and public institutions alike.

That's why it is always important to recognize that we in Indiana are engaged in a never-ending competition with other states, and even other countries, for businesses, industries, and jobs. Thus it is wise to continuously re-examine what it is that we can offer to companies that might want to do business here, and to never be shy about letting the world know about it.

That's doesn't come natural for many of us. The Midwestern values of honesty and humility that permeate our state don't lend themselves very well to boasting and self-promotion. But nature abhors a vacuum. If we don't create and project an image of ourselves, others will do it for us. Either way, we must live with the results.

The irony is that with a little bit of polish, many of the unflattering references to our state made by others -- our agricultural roots, or our perceived lack of sophistication -- can be seen to be strengths. We are a state of small towns, yes. By population, we are the fourteenth largest in the nation, yet our largest metro area is eclipsed in size by 27 others, nationwide.

A single, dominant urban area -- like a Chicago or a Detroit -- can support specialized financial institutions, a sophisticated transportation infrastructure, and rich cultural activities beyond anything we're likely to see in our state, that is true. But such advantages do not come without costs. Trends in population tell us very loudly that people want to live and raise families in less chaotic places. And thanks to our lower cost of living, a computer programmer in Fort Wayne or Lafayette can enjoy a lifestyle that his or her colleague in Seattle or San Francisco could never hope to attain.

It will take more than just hype, of course, to help Indiana make up ground on the competition. Having communities of a livable size doesn't, by itself, make people want to live in them. We've got plenty of work to do in improving our schools, our tax system, and our priorities in economic development. But neither should we lose sight of our strengths, or lose an opportunity to remind the world about them.