“The prosperity of our economy and communities is dependent on the political structures and mechanisms used to manage and coordinate our economic systems.”
No politician expecting to be taken seriously would say that today. read more »
EconomicsActually, Cities are Part of the Economy
by John Muscat 03/19/2011
“The prosperity of our economy and communities is dependent on the political structures and mechanisms used to manage and coordinate our economic systems.” No politician expecting to be taken seriously would say that today. read more » »
Energy Policy Reset: Forget Nuclear Reactors and Mideast Oil
by Joel Kotkin 03/18/2011
The two largest crises today — the Japanese nuclear disaster and the widening unrest in the Middle East — prove it’s time to de-fetishize energy policy. These serious problems also demonstrate why we must expand the nation’s ample oil and gas supplies — urgently. The worsening Japanese nuclear crisis means, for all intents and purposes, that atomic power is, if not dead, certainly on a respirator. Some experts may still make the case that nuclear power remains relatively safe. Some green advocates still tout its virtues for emitting virtually no greenhouse gases. read more »
Subjects:
Why We Can’t Shun Manufacturing for the Service Sector
by Hank Robison 03/16/2011
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the shift in the US economy away from production and increasingly into services. Consider the employment data from the US: In 1950, 30% of all US jobs were in manufacturing while 63% were in services. In 2011, 9% of total employment remains in manufacturing, 86% in services. read more » Why North Dakota Is Booming
by Joel Kotkin 03/14/2011
Living on the harsh, wind-swept northern Great Plains, North Dakotans lean towards the practical in economic development. Finding themselves sitting on prodigious pools of oil—estimated by the state's Department of Mineral Resources at least 4.3 billion barrels—they are out drilling like mad. And the state is booming. read more » California’s Demographic Dilemma: A Class And Culture Clash
by Joel Kotkin 03/10/2011
The newly released Census reports reveal that California faces a profound gap between the cities where people are moving to and the cities that hold all the political power. It is a tale that divides the state between its coastal metropolitan regions that dominate the state’s politics — particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, but also Los Angeles — and its still-growing, largely powerless interior regions. read more » The Protean Future Of American Cities
by Joel Kotkin 03/07/2011
The ongoing Census reveals the continuing evolution of America’s cities from small urban cores to dispersed, multi-polar regions that includes the city’s surrounding areas and suburbs. This is not exactly what most urban pundits, and journalists covering cities, would like to see, but the reality is there for anyone who reads the numbers. read more » From the Great Moderation to the Great Stagnation
by Roger Selbert 03/04/2011
For much of the past decade, I was a proponent of the thesis that that the American economy had entered a “great moderation,” where expansions lasted longer and recessions were fewer, shorter and milder. Productivity had seemingly reached a permanently high plateau; inflation seemed tamed. The spreading of financial risk, across institutions and around the world, seemed to have reduced the odds of a crisis. read more » Is Nashville the Next Boomtown of the New South?
by Aaron M. Renn 03/03/2011
I traveled to Nashville for the first time in 2007, spending most of my time in the downtown area. I posted my impressions here, noting the high growth and high ambition level as well as the fantastic freeways, but also the generally unimpressive development and built environment. read more »
Subjects:
Sputnik Moments, Spending Cuts, and (Remember These?) Jobs
by Ryan Streeter 02/27/2011
The stand-off in Washington over spending reductions has pushed aside serious discussion about a far more pressing issue: job creation. Granted, the country is long overdue for action on spending cuts. There is much that our government does that we can live without. Bureaucracies’ programmatic lassitude and congressional appropriators’ adolescent-like lack of discipline have contributed to our nation’s fiscal imbalance. read more »
Subjects:
The State of Silicon Valley
by Tamara Carleton 02/27/2011
Every year, the top officials, policy wonks, and business managers convene at the annual State of the Valley conference to discuss and debate the health of the region. Over a thousand attendees trekked to San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 18 for the release of this year’s report. Published since 1995 by Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network and distributed for free, the new 2011 Index of Silicon Valley reported bleak indicators and a gloomy outlook. read more » |
Subscribe to NG ArticlesThe Coming of Neo-FeudalismJoel Kotkin's newest book The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class is now available to order. Learn more about this title and Joel's other books. Infinite SuburbiaInfinite Suburbia is the culmination of the MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism's yearlong study of the future of suburban development. Find out more. Recent blog posts
BooksAuthored by Aaron Renn, The Urban State of Mind: Meditations on the City is the first Urbanophile e-book, featuring provocative essays on the key issues facing our cities, including innovation, talent attraction and brain drain, global soft power, sustainability, economic development, and localism. Recent popular content
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