βA timely and smart discussion of how different cities and regions have made a changing economy work for themβand how policymakers can learn from that.β βBarack Obama
Weβre used to thinking of the United States in opposing terms: red versus blue, haves versus have-nots. But today there are three Americas. At one extreme are the brain hubsβcities like San Francisco, Boston, and Durhamβwith workers who are among the most productive, creative, and best paid on the planet. At the other extreme are former manufacturing capitals, which are rapidly losing jobs and residents. The rest of America could go either way.
For the past thirty years, the three Americas have been growing apart at an accelerating rate. This divergence is one of the most important developments in the history of the United States. But the winners and losers arenβt necessarily who youβd expect.
Enrico Morettiβs groundbreaking research shows that you donβt have to be a scientist or an engineer to thrive in one of the brain hubs. Taxi drivers, teachers, nurses, and other local service jobs are created at a ratio of five-to-one in the brain hubs, raising salaries and standard of living for all. Dealing with this splitβsupporting growth in the hubs while arresting the decline elsewhereβis the challenge of the century, and The New Geography of Jobs lights the way.
βBrilliant.β βForbes
βMr. Moretti says the data support the argument that technology innovators are one of the most important engines of job creation in the USβ βJessica E. Vascellaro, Wall Street Journal
βExcellentβ βThe National Review
βA clear and insightful account of the economic forces that are shaping America.β βThe New Republic