My latest post is online over at New Geography and is called "How Houston's Missing Media Gene Hobbles Its Ambitions." In it I contrast San Francisco and Houston as representative champions of two different models of both urban development, and future vision for the US economy. But while San Francisco has risen to the challenge, Houston has largely not because it has failed to tell its story to the world. That's in part because it feels no need to self-promote and especially focus on getting its narrative out via the media. Here's an … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2014
Is College Worth It?
This post originally appeared on October 22, 2012 at New Geography. Is college worth it? The question almost seems ludicrous on its face. The unemployment rate for people with a college degree is only 4.2% versus 9.1% for people without a college degree and 13.0% for people with less than a high school education. In this economy, that should be an open and shut case. Yet in an uncertain world, many are questioning the value of college. There’s significant talk of a “higher education bubble.” Skyrocketing tuition rates and the … [Read more...]
Why State Economic Development Strategies Should Be Metro-Centric
Globalization, technology, productivity improvements, and the resulting restructuring of the world economy have led to fundamental changes that have destroyed the old paradigms of doing business. Whether these changes are on the whole good or bad, or who or what is responsible for bringing them into being, they simply are. Most cities, regions, and US states have extremely limited leverage in this marketplace and thus to a great extent are market takers more than market makers. They have to adapt to new realities, but a lack of willingness to … [Read more...]