There are two things killing Idaho's would-be expanding economy: A flooded market of businesses and too little money to borrow (other than payday or car title lenders of course).

Unless a business can find a niche market or there is a market shortage, it becomes a cutthroat economy. Businesses can't compete unless they pay rock-bottom wages, and must find ways to weasel out of the employer share of payroll taxes, unemployment insurance and workman's compensation insurance by declaring their employees are private contractors. It's called being "paid under the table." One either succumbs to these cutthroat tactics or goes out of business. So unless collective bargaining or the government raises the bar for everyone, there is an argument for a living wage. And since most of the poorer states like Idaho are right to work states, then the federal government raising minimum wages becomes the only viable alternative.

Look, it's simple supply side economics. Testing, educational requirements, bonding and licensing can limit the quantity of service providers and raise incomes dramatically. Look at the medical field, accounting, or even highway construction. In construction it's bonding that separates the men from the boys. But if everyone and his brother built highways, kept business records, or practiced medicine? Suddenly those professions aren't so lucrative.

The resulting second issue killing Idaho's would-be economy is lack of money to borrow. Few can qualify because few can pay back a loan. So unless one just moved here with a fat California or military public pension, fear of rejection has made home lending so arduous and impossible that few even bother anymore. That's why multi-family housing construction is exploding and new single family homes are flat. Ask your local lumber yard where their wood is going.

A new $50,000 pickup truck didn't reach that astronomical price because millions of buyers had 500 Benjamin Franklin hundred-dollar bills in their pocket. Lending money did.

Radio financial guru Dave Ramsey recently said the reason pay-day or car title lenders were only on the poor side of town is because people who live on the poor side of town make poor choices with their money. If Dave is right, then the entire Idaho Panhandle is the poor side of town. We have payday lenders everywhere.

Look Idaho, we make our own misery. And this thinking that lower wages are always better for everyone but me is just killing our economy. But as wages plummet, government deficits and the Dow Jones Industrial Average will soar. Evidently there is no free lunch. It's the "who pays" question that we must answer.

Idaho thinking has become this: The Wall Street that fleeced the government for millions is good.

The guy next door trying to scratch out a living? Bad.

Yes, rising tides lift all boats. But, last I checked, sinking tides still lower all boats too.

Mike Reno is a Post Falls resident.