Comment 75935

By jacob (registered) | Posted April 13, 2012 at 19:08:13

"Industrial cities are characterized by a small number of large industrial employers providing mostly unskilled labour."

I'm sceptical of this and the Glaeser quotes for similar reasons as Borrelli.

I question the idea that someone in the operational side of a factory is any less creative than someone operating within a business process at a bank or ad agency.

I'm also skeptical about the argument that industry caused Detroit's decline. Seems to me that Detroit's decline is perfectly explained by looking at Ann Arbour or Troy Michigan, and the particular US phenomenon of letting cities deamalgamate on their own vote.

Furthermore are knowledge based industries safe from the same pressures that I see as responsible for industry's decline? I believe it's already happening that Indian radiologists can check your x-rays. I'm sure we're very close to the point where everything not tied to jurisdiction will be sourced to cheaper labour markets. A Malaysian PR consultant would no doubt have done a better job than Peggy Chapman. In that world it may be that our resource wealth, and the support industries that go with it, will be in increasing demand.

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