As we approach election season and participation in one of our great civic duties, I am prompted to reflect on another civic duty, jury duty to be precise. Most people view this as an imposition. Practically speaking, I'm inclined to agree. But I find that when I actually end up going, not only do I enjoy myself, I come away with my faith in America stronger than ever. There's a vast literature on juries and their role in a republican system. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote extensively on it, for example. But the aspects that stands out for me … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2008
A New Approach to Regional Economic Development in Indiana
The Indy Star is on a roll. Fresh on the heels of starting a dialog on the priorities of public services in Indy versus aspirational peers, they run a major story highlighting something that’s been evident for some time, namely that there is a large and increasing disconnect between Indianapolis and the rest of the state. The facts are stark. Consider, the Indy metro area is 25% of the state’s population, but it has: 13% of manufacturing jobs lost in the state 31% of all the jobs currently existing 43% of all the college … [Read more...]
Chicago: Corporate Headquarters and the Global City
Chicago is the Midwest's only "global city" (or world city if you prefer). There are many paradigms of the global city, but the most widely cited is Saskia Sassen's. The Cliff Notes version goes something like this. As businesses became more globalized and more virtualized, this created demand for new types of financial products and producer services - notably in the law, accounting, consultancy, and marketing areas - to help businesses service and control these far flung networks. These financial and producer services are subject to clustering … [Read more...]