Our Economic Future: What Enrico Moretti's Book Gets Wrong

Forbes called it the best book of the year, and I agree. But in an email to Professor Moretti, I still suggested three minor differences. He replied with a neutral but still polite and friendly "good food for thought."

I am citing Moretti's book in every presentation I make now. So he has new important evidence that business and education leaders must know. 

1.Trains and light rail are integral.
  Moretti misses the whole train thing. And transportation is always center-stage in economic change. Not only do innovation cities have and continue to build more light rail and trains; but transportation access has been so important historically that one could see even poor Merced, Cal. bouncing back with a high speed rail station there (I don’t know Merced’s other qualities, but I do know in Wisconsin Eau Claire will triple in size if it has a high speed train stop as SNCF would like).

2.Gender discrimination against males.
 Mathematically, there’s no way for U.S. to get to 50% college educated population while continuing to discriminate against males in education. Substituting mediocre females for smart males won’t do in the workplace.  And while Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Shawn Fanning, Robert Stephens etc and etc  did not need a college degree (neither did Henry Ford, Edison, Wright Brothers) that’s a short historical window that is closing and  males have to be able to have access to the education standard society requires.

3.Dispersion of economic prosperity to other cities.
  While Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, got all the PR in the last century, in Wisconsin the “Dairy State” actually had great prosperity and wealth in Janesville, Racine, Kenosha, my hometown of Fond du Lac, with auto factories and other manufacturing.  I agree the concentration of prosperity in innovative cities is happening now, but history would suggest that other cities, especially those with high speed rail, are going to benefit in the coming decades. 

Exclusive NineShift photo. This is a Russian style sleigh. The runners are part of the sleigh, good for deep snow.

Comments

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Wow. "Substituting mediocre females for smart males..." Just wow. And they let you out of the cave with that kind of misogynist crap coming out of your mouth? Just wow.