Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The New Geography of Innovation

Jobs don't follow talent. Jobs follow knowledge production.

Theme: Economic restructuring


Other Links: 1. "Pittsburgh And Migration Mesofacts."
2. "LycosBurgh."
4. "The Economic Geography of Tech Talent."






Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Economic Geography of Tech Talent


Theme: Emerging economic geographies


2. "Economic Geography Of Talent Production."
3. "Stanford University Is Dying."
5. "Silicon Valley is already dead."
6. "Comparative Localization of Academic and Industrial Spillovers."


Monday, May 18, 2015

Technological Innovation Begets Migration

In a virtuous circle, migration and innovation make the world go round.

Theme: Innovation geography

Subject Article: "In the age of disruptive innovation, adaptability is what matters most."

Other Links: 1. "Space and the city: Poor land use in the world’s greatest cities carries a huge cost."

Postscript: This post was inspired by the latest paper from Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti, "Why Do Cities Matter? Local Growth and Aggregate Growth." Artificial housing supply constraints are deemed to be a drag on economic output. That assumes lower housing prices would allow more people to live in the most productive places. That is, lower housing prices would beget higher population. Which raises the question, how much do housing prices affect inter-regional migration and population change?

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Stanford University Is Dying

You go where you know. You went to the wrong college and spent too much money.

Theme: Innovation geography

Subject Article: "How to Survive the College Admissions Madness."

Other Links: 1. "Silicon Valley Is Already Dead."
2. "From Metal to Minds: Economic Restructuring in the Rust Belt."

Postscript: The a-ha moment came while reading about how the regional economy in Waterloo, Ontario thrived despite the demise of Blackberry. The pursuit of tech transfer is the holy grail of economic development. Pittsburgh desperately tried (still tries) to hit on its own Blackberry. This quest spurred world class knowledge production at Carnegie Mellon University. That asset, as it turns out, drives economic restructuring.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Third Globalization: Human Capital and Demographic Decline

Half of the world lives in a country where the number of births fails to replace those who die.

Theme: Ironic demographics and globalization

Subject Article: "Investing in People as an Economic Growth Strategy."

Other Links: 1. "The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy."
2. "Extensive and Intensive Globalizations: Explicating the Low Connectivity Puzzle of US Cities Using a City-Dyad Analysis."
3. "Boston Versus Silicon Valley: Advantage Beantown."
5. "Peak Talent."

Postscript: "Rich countries' populations are beginning to shrink. That's not necessarily bad news":


As economic prosperity diffuses, so will demographic decline. How we manage that demographic decline will define economic geography.

Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Pioneer Migration

Attract one person and an entire village will follow.

Theme: Brain drain is economic development.

Subject Article: "The Salvadoran town where migrants are hotly debated folk heroes."

Other Links: 1. "Baltimore puts out welcome mat for immigrants, hoping to stop population decline."

Postscript: In recognition of persistent urban poverty, Baltimore's stated goal of population growth is indicative of the dysfunctional politics in that city. How about better schools? Population data are an indicator, not a means to an end. Stop treating immigrants like a number and recognize that people develop, not places.