Not picking industries
I am a skeptic when it comes to government –– national, state and local –– picking industries –– either old ones to save or new ones to stimulate –– as an effective economic growth strategy. Although it is true most…
Productivity up, not wages II
The evidence keeps growing that economic growth is increasingly going to capital not labor. And that unless that changes most Americans are facing a declining standard of living. David Brooks is right when he writes in a column: "For example,…
Low pay driving job vacancies
Conventional wisdom is that there are plenty of jobs available that are vacant because too few Americans have the skills employers need in an increasingly knowledge-based economy. Not just the STEM professions, but also technical jobs in manufacturing, construction, health…
Not your father’s job market II
The second recommended New York Times article that portrays the changing way work is being organized is entitled: As boom lures app creators, tough part is making a living. The article chronicles how applications are being developed for devices like…
Not your father’s jobs market
We continue to act as if the job market should look like it did in the past. With the same occupations, the same pay and benefits and organized around relatively stable full time work for an employer. That job market…
1.0/2.0 politics in a 3.0 economy
The two terrific articles on manufacturing in America I wrote about in my last post dramatically demonstrate how futile it is to try to recreate a mass middle class in a factory-based economy. Those days are gone. Factory work is…
The reality of factory work in America
Two terrific articles describe the present and future of factory work in America. The first from the New York Times on Apple's production system. The second a more comprehensive look at American manufacturing from the Atlantic. Both have the same…
Detroit growing
Last May I wrote that the city of Detroit should focus on growing, not shrinking. As contradictory as it sounds the city needs to do some of both. But the priority needs to be growth. As I wrote: Detroit’s problem…
Business following talent
Fascinating New York Times article on UBS entitled Regretting Move, Bank May Return to Manhattan. Its about UBS considering moving back to Manhattan because they can't attract talent to their huge suburban Connecticut trading operations. As the Times writes: ...UBS…
Lessons from Chicago
Harvard's Edward Glaeser is becoming my new favorite columnist. He is a regular contributor to the Economix blog at the New York Times. He recently wrote about Mayor Daley's legacy. As he writes Mayor Daley took over a declining Chicago.…