Tayer: Heed the red flags before digging a deeper hole

For the past few years, the Boulder Chamber and its Boulder Economic Council have recognized both the strengths and challenges to our economy at our annual economic forecasts and summits. The message coming out of the 2018 Forecast, though, is the most cautionary in recent memory: Although 2017 was a historically positive year, we see looming challenges, including in particular a labor shortage, rising regional traffic congestion, and high housing costs. Adding to this troubling outlook was talk of tougher competition from surrounding communities, with their offer of lower taxes, fees, and overall costs and their investment in…