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Economics Landscape of W.Va. Changing

The relatively small world of economics in West Virginia is going through some changes.

Late last week, West Virginia University economist Russ Sobel resigned from the university. Sobel had taught at WVU for nearly 18 years and was best known for publishing two books analyzing the state's economy and legal system.

Sobel and university spokesman John Bolt declined to comment on what lead to Sobel's Dec. 1 resignation, however Sobel offered the following statement to The State Journal and other media outlets:

"I have decided to leave WVU.  My seventeen and a half years at WVU have been wonderful, and I greatly value the relationships I have built here. I am in discussions about several new opportunities, and I look forward to updating you when the details are finalized."

In addition to Sobel's departure, WVU economist Tom Witt said this week that he has informed the College of Business and Economics dean that he will be retiring in June.

"I will continue to work part-time however on funded research," Witt said.

Witt has been at WVU since 1970 and has been director of the College's Bureau of Business Research since 1985. The bulk of his career has been spent in Morgantown.

"I met my wife here," he said.

In addition, Marshall University economist Cal Kent said he has decided to step back as director of the Marshall's Center for Business and Economic Research at the end of the year. 

"I'm still going to be there (at Marshall), but it was time for someone else" to take on the administrative duties of heading the center, he said. "I will still be teaching one class per semester and the rest of my time will be dedicated to establishing an entrepreneurial program and to the BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism."

Kent, who has been at Marshall since June 1993, said the one course he will teach is "Legal Environment of Business," which he described as a legal economics course. He said he also will maintain a limited involvement with the Center for Business and Economic Research working on a "project by project basis," and will continue to work with the state Legislature on a few specific issues.

"I'm not going into total retirement," he said. "I'm just getting rid of the administrative requirements of the job."

News of Sobel's departure, Witt's retirement and Kent's plan to step back a bit shocked some within the state's business community.

"Each has made singularly noteworthy contributions as an educator, thinker and author," said Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. "All are community leaders whose work has helped West Virginia immeasurably. Their caliber professional doesn't come along but only so often."

Kent said it has not yet been determined who will replace him as CBER's director. However, he specifically said he is not retiring.

"They aren't going to get rid of me entirely," he joked.

Sobel, however, has already left WVU, and his professional profile has been taken off of the university's College of Business and Economics website.

Prior to his departure, Sobel was the James Clark Coffman Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at the college and taught one class — a macroeconomics class — in the fall semester. Sobel also was serving as the chairman of eight doctoral students dissertation committees, according to his personal website. During his time at WVU, he served on dissertation committees for 23 other doctoral students.

Sobel may be best known in West Virginia for his book "Unleashing Capitalism: Why Prosperity Stops at the West Virginia Border and How to Fix It," which highlighted specific problems in the Mountain State that tend to keep it behind other states and the policies that lead to those problems. He also served as the editor of "Rule of Law: Perspectives on Legal and Judicial Reform in West Virginia." "Unleashing Capitalism" sold more than 5,000 copies and was the subject of hundreds of interviews and media stories because it outlined very specific steps for the state to take to become more competitive.

"Unleashing Capitalism" was named winner of the 2008 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, which honors think tank publications that have made the greatest contributions to the public understanding of a free society. He also published a version of "Unleashing Capitalism" that focused on South Carolina's economy.

Some circles hailed Sobel's original "Unleashing Capitalism" book as the much needed guide to help West Virginia remove itself from a decades-long economic morass that resulted in young adults and companies moving out of the state.

"Russ Sobel's antidote to the sclerotic mess that is the West Virginia economy, thankfully doesn't leave our borders with him," Rob Cornelius, a former columnist for The State Journal, said upon hearing of Sobel's departure. "Free minds, freer markets and fair courts will still free us from the decades of failure propagated by one-party rule of Democrat politicians and their union overseers. Laws have consequences, and we have failed to select our officials with even the care we would apply to selecting a meal out. We have the energy resources to create the careers that have passed by this state for years. Businesses should want to come here and unleash new oil and natural gas prosperity for our state. Will we develop them or let that fat lady in the Union commercial scare them into Ohio or Pennsylvania?"