From a rising young economist, an examination of innovation and success, and where to find them in America. An unprecedented redistribution of jobs, population, and wealth is under way in America, and it is likely to accelerate in the years to come. Americas new economic map shows growing differences, not just between people but especially between communities. In this important and persuasive book, U.C. Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti provides a fresh perspective on the tectonic shifts that are reshaping Americas labor market—from globalization and income inequality to immigration and technological progress—and how these shifts are affecting our communities. Drawing on a wealth of stimulating new studies, Moretti uncovers what smart policies may be appropriate to address the social challenges that are arising. Were used to thinking of the United States in dichotomous terms: red versus blue, black versus white, haves versus have-nots. But today there are three Americas. At one extreme are the brain hubs—cities like San Francisco, Boston, Austin, and Durham—with a well-educated labor force and a strong innovation sector. Their workers are among the most productive, creative, and best paid on the planet. At the other extreme are cities once dominated by traditional manufacturing, which are declining rapidly, losing jobs and residents. In the middle are a number of cities that could go either way. For the past thirty years, the three Americas have been growing apart at an accelerating rate. This divergence is one the most important recent developments in the United States and is causing growing geographic disparities is all other aspects of our lives, from health and longevity to family stability and political engagement. But the winners and losers arent necessarily who youd expect. Morettis groundbreaking research shows that you dont have to be a scientist or an engineer to thrive in one of these brain hubs. Among the beneficiaries are the workers who support the "idea-creators"—the carpenters, hair stylists, personal trainers, lawyers, doctors, teachers and the like. In fact, Moretti has shown that for every new innovation job in a city, five additional non-innovation jobs are created, and those workers earn higher salaries than their counterparts in other cities. It wasnt supposed to be this way. As the global economy shifted from manufacturing to innovation, geography was supposed to matter less. But the pundits were wrong. A new map is being drawn—the inevitable result of deep-seated but rarely discussed economic forces. These trends are reshaping the very fabric of our society. Dealing with this split—supporting growth in the hubs while arresting the decline elsewhere—will be the challenge of the century, and The New Geography of Jobs lights the way.
“Moretti has written the most important book of the year, I can't recommend it enough. The Cal-Berkeley economic professor's book is extremely necessary for politicians and commentators alike, book that artfully slays myriad myths that cloud the economic debate. Brilliant.”
—Forbes
“Enrico Moretti's superb book highlights why the study of economic geography is vital for understanding fundamental issues such as the root causes of rising income inequality, innovation, and job growth. For those who are curious about how the United States will continue to thrive in the global 21st century economy, I can think of no better book to read than The New Geography of Jobs.”
—Matthew E. Kahn, author of Climatopolis
“A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment. . . A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Wow. . . Without referring to Charles Murray, Moretti blows Coming Apart totally out of the water, replacing Murray's moralistic sociology with solid economics.”
—Arnold Kling, EconLog
“[A] persuasive look at why some U.S. cities have prospered in recent decades while others have declined.”
—James Pressley, Bloomberg - Businessweek
“The New Geography of Jobs explains the major shifts taking place in the United States economy and reveals the surprising winners and losers—specifically, which jobs will drive economic growth and where theyll be located. Which communities will transform themselves into dynamic innovation hubs in 2012 and beyond? It can be done.Get educated, get a map and get going!”
—Troy Onink, Forbes
“In a new book, The New Geography of Jobs, University of California at Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti argues that for each job in the software, technology and life-sciences industries, five new jobs are indirectly created in the local economy. The jobs range from yoga instructors to restaurant owners. Mr. Moretti calculated such a multiplier effect by examining U.S. Census Bureau data from eight million workers in 320 areas during the past 30 years. By comparison, he found that just 1.6 local jobs were created for every new job in the manufacturing industry during the same period. Mr. Moretti says the data support the argument that technology innovators are one of the most important engines of job creation in the U.S.—with three of those five jobs going to people without college degrees.”
—Jessica E. Vascellaro, Wall Street Journal
“Decade after decade, smart and educated people flock away from Merced, Calif., Yuma, Ariz., Flint, Mich., and Vineland, N.J. In those places, less than 15 percent of the residents have college degrees. They flock to Washington, Boston, San Jose, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco. In those places, nearly 50 percent of the residents have college degrees. As Enrico Moretti writes in The New Geography of Jobs, the magnet places have positive ecologies that multiply innovation, creativity and wealth. The abandoned places have negative ecologies and fall further behind. This sorting is self-reinforcing, and it seems to grow more unforgiving every year.”
—David Brooks, The New York Times
“As Enrico Moretti documents in compelling detail in a recently released book, The New Geography of Jobs, even if we dont assemble iPhones or sneakers in America, we supply their designs to those who do. And we do still make things—things like precision scientific instruments and jetliners. But the way were producing them has changed as well: Even in sectors that have expanded production over the last decade, there are fewer jobs to be had— the so-called productivity paradox. The reason? Production is increasingly automated, requiring more computers and fewer human beings. All this adds up to an economy that generates just as much income, but with profits flowing into far fewer pockets than they did in the previous century. Moretti suggests that the prognosis for the average American worker need not be so gloomy if, as he predicts, America continues to thrive as a hub of knowledge generation and innovation. While the idea creators—those who design iPhones and develop new drugs—will continue to be the drivers of prosperity, more than a few crumbs may fall to the workers who support them. For example, Moretti estimates that Microsoft alone is responsible for adding 120,000 low-skill jobs to the Seattle area, where the company is based. This is because of the support workers required to style the hair, cut the grass, and yes, build the houses, of all those Microsoft engineers and computer scientists. And they earn more doing it—a barber in San Francisco earns about 40 percent more than his counterpart in Detroit or Riverside, Calif. So one way of boosting incomes of the bottom quintile would be to provide incentives for them to pick up and move from the rust belt to innovation hubs like Austin, San Francisco, and Boston.”
—Ray Fisman, Slate
“In The New Geography of Jobs, Moretti explains how innovative industries bring 'good jobs' and high salaries to the communities where they cluster, and their impact on the local economy is much deeper than their direct effect.”
—Joann Steinmetz, Buffalo Rising
“The New Geography of Jobs, examines how and why hiring is stronger in some U.S. cities than in others."
—PBS NewsHour
“Whatever this month unemployment report turns out to be, it's probably not gonna be great news for the Rust Belt. Best guesses are manufacturing jobs are still scarce. Meanwhile, new economy places like Silicon Valley continue to thrive. The difference? Location, location, location. So says economist Enrico Moretti in his latest book, The New Geography of Jobs.”
—NPR MarketPlace
“Professor Moretti is a visionary scholar and one of the most important new voices in economics.”
—The Costa Report
“The choice of where you live is the most important choice an American worker can make today.”
—MSNBC - The Dylan Ratigan Show
“The book is excellent, I strongly recommend it.”
—Forbes (Adam Ozimek)
"What explains the wide range of economic growth and prosperity across U.S. regions, and why is it so hard for struggling metro areas to reverse multi-decade trends? These are the questions that urban economist Enrico Moretti addresses in The New Geography of Jobs. In his vision, innovative workers and companies create prosperity that flows broadly, but these gains are mostly metropolitan in scale, meaning that geography substantially determines economic vitality. [...] Moretti has written a clear and insightful account of the economic forces that are shaping America and its regions, and he rightly celebrates human capital and innovation as the fundamental sources of economic development.”
—Brookings Institution (Jonathan Rothwell)
“An important new book.”
—The American
“A bold vision.”
—MIT Sloan Management Review
“Enrico Morettis, The New Geography of Jobs has been exceptionally well received by many of the economic development literati. Some commentators have described New Geography as the best economic development book of 2012. And if you dont read New Geography, you would also miss reading the best, most readable explanation and defense of innovation, knowledge-based economics and their effects on the location of jobs in the United States. There is a lot going on in New Geography.”
—Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development
“Economist Enrico Moretti finds that earnings of a high school graduate increase 7% for every 10% increase in the percent of people in a city that are college graduates. While having more high-skilled workers around tends to raise everyone's salaries, Moretti's research shows that low-skilled workers benefit four to five times more than college graduates. Even as liberals work to find a way to counteract the problem of the 1 percent, they should view HSI as a step toward turning America back into a true middle-class society.”
—The Atlantic
“Prof. Moretti's findings are both significant and provocative.”
—Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
“[There is] a growing divide among American cities. The winnter are metro areas like Raleigh, N.C., San Francisco, and Stamford C.T. where more than 40 percent of the adult residents have college degrees. The Raleigh area has a booming technology sector and several major research universities; San Francisco has been a magnet for college graduates for decades; and metropolitan Stamford draws highly educated workers from white-collar professions in New York like finance.
Metro areas like Bakersfield, Calif., Lakeland, Fla., and Youngstown, Ohio, where less than a fifth of the adult residents have college degrees, are being left behind. The divide shows signs of widening as college graduates gravitate to places with many other college graduates and the atmosphere that creates. "This is one of the most important developments in the recent economic history of this country," said Enrico Moretti, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who recently published a book on the topic, The New Geography ...
"Moretti has written the most important book of the year, I can't recommend it enough. The Cal-Berkeley economic professor's book is extremely necessary for politicians and commentators alike, book that artfully slays myriad myths that cloud the economic debate. Brilliant."
and#8212;Forbes and#12288; "Enrico Moretti is a first-rate empirical researcher who has taught us much about the geographic impact of human capital and a variety of public investments. His book, The New Geography of Jobs, is well-written and filled with important facts and wise policy advice. It is an excellent addition to the literature on the economics of place. [and#8230;] Both local policymakers and national leaders interested in policies with a geographical edge would do well to read the book."
and#8212;Edward Glaeser, author of The Triumph of the City and#12288; "Decade after decade, smart and educated people flock away from Merced, Calif., Yuma, Ariz., Flint, Mich., and Vineland, N.J. In those places, less than 15 percent of the residents have college degrees. They flock to Washington, Boston, San Jose, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco. In those places, nearly 50 percent of the residents have college degrees. As Enrico Moretti writes inand#12288;The New Geography of Jobs, the magnet places have positive ecologies that multiply innovation, creativity and wealth. The abandoned places have negative ecologies and fall further behind. This sorting is self-reinforcing, and it seems to grow more unforgiving every year."
and#8212;David Brooks,and#12288;The New York Times
"The New Geography of Jobs, examines how and why hiring is stronger in some U.S. cities than in others."
and#8212;PBS NewsHour and#12288; "[A] persuasive look at why some U.S. cities have prospered in recent decades while others have declined."
and#8212;Businessweek and#12288; "In a new book,and#12288;The New Geography of Jobs, University of California at Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti argues that for each job in the software, technology and life-sciences industries, five new jobs are indirectly created in the local economy. The jobs range from yoga instructors to restaurant owners. Mr. Moretti calculated such a multiplier effect by examining U.S. Census Bureau data from eight million workers in 320 areas during the past 30 years. Mr. Moretti says the data support the argument that technology innovators are one of the most important engines of job creation in the U.S.and#8212;with three of those five jobs going to people without college degrees."
and#8212;The Wall Street Journal and#12288; "Moretti has written a clear and insightful account of the economic forces that are shaping America and its regions, and he rightly celebrates human capital and innovation as the fundamental sources of economic development."
and#8212;The New Republic and#12288; "Compelling"
and#8212;Slate and#12288; "Whatever this month unemployment report turns out to be, it's probably not going to be great news for the Rust Belt. Best guesses are manufacturing jobs are still scarce. Meanwhile, new economy places like Silicon Valley continue to thrive. The difference? Location, location, location. So says economist Enrico Moretti in his latest book,and#12288;The New Geography of Jobs."
and#8212;NPR MarketPlace and#12288; "A bold vision."
and#8212;MIT Sloan Management Review and#12288; "It is a great and disturbing book about the sweeping changes that are going on in American communities."
and#8212;Reuters and#12288; "Morettiand#8217;s book suggests that for each additional job in the average high-tech firm, five additional jobs are created outside that firm in the local community."
and#8212;NPR All Things Considered and#12288; "Economist Enrico Moretti finds that earnings of a high school graduate increase 7% for every 10% increase in the percent of people in a city that are college graduates. While having more high-skilled workers around tends to raise everyone's salaries, Moretti's research shows that low-skilled workers benefit four to five times more than college graduates. Even as liberals work to find a way to counteract the problem of the 1 percent, they should view high skilled immigrants as a step toward turning America back into a true middle-class society."
and#8212;The Atlantic and#12288; "Professor Moretti is a visionary scholar and one of the most important new voices in economics."
and#8212;The Costa Report and#12288; "The book is an inviting read. It is dense with ideas, but spiced liberally with local detail"
and#8212;The Journal of Economic Geography and#12288; "[There is] a growing divide among American cities. The winners are metro areas like Raleigh, N.C.,and#12288;San Francisco, and Stamford C.T. where more than 40 percent of the adult residents have college degrees. [and#8230;] Metro areas like Bakersfield, Calif., Lakeland, Fla., and Youngstown, Ohio, where less than a fifth of the adult residents have college degrees, are being left behind. The divide shows signs of widening as college graduates gravitate to places with many other college graduates and the atmosphere that creates. "This is one of the most important developments in the recent economic history of this country," said Enrico Moretti, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who recently published a book on the topic,and#12288;The New Geography of Jobs"
and#8212;The New York Times and#12288; "The choice of where you live is the most important choice an American worker can make today."
and#8212;The Dylan Ratigan Show, MSNBC and#12288; "A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment. . . A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems."
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews and#12288; "If there's one current book I'd recommend to leaders in American cities today, it's Enrico Moretti's The New Geography of Jobs."
and#8212;The Urbanophile and#12288; "Enrico Morettiand#8217;s,and#12288;The New Geography of Jobsand#12288;has been exceptionally well received by many of the economic development literati. Some commentators have describedand#12288;New Geographyand#12288;as the best economic development book of 2013. And if you donand#8217;t readand#12288;New Geography, you would also miss reading the best, most readable explanation and defense of innovation, knowledge-based economics and their effects on the location of jobs in the United States. There is a lot going on inand#12288;New Geography."
and#8212;Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development and#160; "An important new book."
and#8212;The American
"Prof. Moretti's findings are both significant and provocative."
and#8212;Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and#12288; and#12288; "The New Geography of Jobs is arguably the most important book about urban economics published this year. Author Enrico Moretti, an Italian-born economics professor at Berkeley, analyzes the great divergence occurring between metropolitan regions in the United States. While much of his narrative about the innovation sector as the key driver in regional growth will be familiar to readers of Richard Florida, Moretti provides a valuable counter-balance to Floridaand#8217;s theories about the creative class."
and#8212;Bacon's Rebellion and#12288; "The book is excellent, I strongly recommend it."
and#8212;Forbes (Adam Ozimek)and#12288; and#12288; "Enrico Moretti's superb book highlights why the study of economic geography is vital for understanding fundamental issues such as the root causes of rising income inequality, innovation, and job growth. For those who are curious about how the United States will continue to thrive in the global 21st century economy, I can think of no better book to read thanand#12288;The New Geography of Jobs."
and#8212;Matthew E. Kahn, author ofand#12288;Climatopolis and#12288; "Moretti's book is well-written, well-argued, and important. The New Geography of Jobs is the sort of economics that should be widely read, digested, and discussed."
and#8212;The Digital Quad and#12288; "The message of his very well written and prize winning book is important. And Enrico is right that we should pay attention to the geography of where smart people are choosing to work, play, and live their lives. Ultimately, it has consequences for all of us."
and#8212;The Creativity Post and#12288; "If youand#8217;re thinking of a career change or new employment, or if job creation is your Number One priority this year, this is a book youand#8217;ll want first. Youand#8217;ll need solid, hard-core information to do it. And for that, The New Geography of Jobs is hard to resist."
and#8212;Independent News and#160; "Enrico Moretti has written an important book that every student of local economic development should read. His perspective is dynamic, placing the present situation in the context of the evolution of industrial production and labor markets over the past 50 year."
and#8212;Berkeley Planning Journal and#12288; "Wow. . . Without referring to Charles Murray, Moretti blowsand#12288;Coming Apartand#12288;totally out of the water, replacing Murray's moralistic sociology with solid economics."
and#8212;EconLog and#12288; "Moretti has done a good deed by sitting down to write. He's clear and concise. He has writer's knack for pulling out the illustrative detail while never losing the broad sweep of events. It is truly a skill to be equally at home in the abstract realm of statistics and the very emotion-laden world of human decision-making. Most economists forget that the conclusions they draw from their sample populations also contain the drama of people's actual lives within them. Moretti remembers this while avoiding another trap of economists. He doesn't leave his story in the realm of the theoretical, but constantly brings his tale back to real-world existence in a way that amplifies the argument by making it coincide with everyday experience. Most importantly, he knows his subject well and he's talking about something that is shaping our future more than we realize."
and#8212;Sam Seidel and#12288; "We are habituated to thinking about U.S. inequality across people: By education, race, and ethnicity. Moretti convincingly demonstrates that the inequalities that matter most in early 21st century America are the differences across places. An individual standard of living is increasingly determined by where she lives, not just what she does. Wages are higher, and unemployment lower, for workers living in an "innovation cluster" than for comparably educated workers outside of these privileged places."
and#8212;Inside Higher Ed and#12288; "Inand#12288;The New Geography of Jobs, Moretti explains how innovative industries bring 'good jobs' and high salaries to the communities where they cluster, and their impact on the local economy is much deeper than their direct effect."
and#8212;Buffalo Rising
and#160;
and#8220;Moretti has written the most important book of the year, I can't recommend it enough. The Cal-Berkeley economic professor's book is extremely necessary for politicians and commentators alike, book that artfully slays myriad myths that cloud the economic debate. Brilliant.and#8221;
and#8212;Forbes
and#8220;Enrico Moretti's superb book highlights why the study of economic geography is vital for understanding fundamental issues such as the root causes of rising income inequality, innovation, and job growth. For those who are curious about how the United States will continue to thrive in the global 21st century economy, I can think of no better book to read than The New Geography of Jobs.and#8221;
and#8212;Matthew E. Kahn, author of Climatopolis
and#8220;A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment. . . A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.and#8221;
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
and#8220;Wow. . . Without referring to Charles Murray, Moretti blows Coming Apart totally out of the water, replacing Murray's moralistic sociology with solid economics.and#8221;
and#8212;Arnold Kling, EconLog and#12288; and#8220;[A] persuasive look at why some U.S. cities have prospered in recent decades while others have declined.and#8221;
and#8212;James Pressley, Bloomberg - Businessweek
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs explains the major shifts taking place in the United States economy and reveals the surprising winners and losersand#8212;specifically, which jobs will drive economic growth and where theyand#8217;ll be located. Which communities will transform themselves into dynamic innovation hubs in 2012 and beyond? It can be done.Get educated, get a map and get going!and#8221;
and#8212;Troy Onink, Forbes
and#8220;In a new book, The New Geography of Jobs, University of California at Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti argues that for each job in the software, technology and life-sciences industries, five new jobs are indirectly created in the local economy. The jobs range from yoga instructors to restaurant owners. Mr. Moretti calculated such a multiplier effect by examining U.S. Census Bureau data from eight million workers in 320 areas during the past 30 years. By comparison, he found that just 1.6 local jobs were created for every new job in the manufacturing industry during the same period. Mr. Moretti says the data support the argument that technology innovators are one of the most important engines of job creation in the U.S.and#8212;with three of those five jobs going to people without college degrees.and#8221;
and#8212;Jessica E. Vascellaro, Wall Street Journal
and#8220;Decade after decade, smart and educated people flock away from Merced, Calif., Yuma, Ariz., Flint, Mich., and Vineland, N.J. In those places, less than 15 percent of the residents have college degrees. They flock to Washington, Boston, San Jose, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco. In those places, nearly 50 percent of the residents have college degrees. As Enrico Moretti writes in The New Geography of Jobs, the magnet places have positive ecologies that multiply innovation, creativity and wealth. The abandoned places have negative ecologies and fall further behind. This sorting is self-reinforcing, and it seems to grow more unforgiving every year.and#8221;
and#8212;David Brooks, The New York Times
and#8220;As Enrico Moretti documents in compelling detail in a recently released book, The New Geography of Jobs, even if we donand#8217;t assemble iPhones or sneakers in America, we supply their designs to those who do. And we do still make thingsand#8212;things like precision scientific instruments and jetliners. But the way weand#8217;re producing them has changed as well: Even in sectors that have expanded production over the last decade, there are fewer jobs to be hadand#8212; the so-called productivity paradox. The reason? Production is increasingly automated, requiring more computers and fewer human beings. All this adds up to an economy that generates just as much income, but with profits flowing into far fewer pockets than they did in the previous century. Moretti suggests that the prognosis for the average American worker need not be so gloomy if, as he predicts, America continues to thrive as a hub of knowledge generation and innovation. While the idea creatorsand#8212;those who design iPhones and develop new drugsand#8212;will continue to be the drivers of prosperity, more than a few crumbs may fall to the workers who support them. For example, Moretti estimates that Microsoft alone is responsible for adding 120,000 low-skill jobs to the Seattle area, where the company is based. This is because of the support workers required to style the hair, cut the grass, and yes, build the houses, of all those Microsoft engineers and computer scientists. And they earn more doing itand#8212;a barber in San Francisco earns about 40 percent more than his counterpart in Detroit or Riverside, Calif. So one way of boosting incomes of the bottom quintile would be to provide incentives for them to pick up and move from the rust belt to innovation hubs like Austin, San Francisco, and Boston.and#8221;
and#8212; Ray Fisman, Slate
and#8220;In The New Geography of Jobs, Moretti explains how innovative industries bring 'good jobs' and high salaries to the communities where they cluster, and their impact on the local economy is much deeper than their direct effect.and#8221;
and#8212; Joann Steinmetz, Buffalo Rising
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs, examines how and why hiring is stronger in some U.S. cities than in others."
and#8212; PBS NewsHour
and#8220;Whatever this month unemployment report turns out to be, it's probably not gonna be great news for the Rust Belt. Best guesses are manufacturing jobs are still scarce. Meanwhile, new economy places like Silicon Valley continue to thrive. The difference? Location, location, location. So says economist Enrico Moretti in his latest book, The New Geography of Jobs.and#8221;
and#8212; NPR MarketPlace
and#8220;Professor Moretti is a visionary scholar and one of the most important new voices in economics.and#8221;
and#8212; The Costa Report
and#8220;The choice of where you live is the most important choice an American worker can make today.and#8221;
and#8212; MSNBC and#8211; The Dylan Ratigan Show
and#8220;The book is excellent, I strongly recommend it.and#8221;
and#8212; Forbes (Adam Ozimek)
"What explains the wide range of economic growth and prosperity across U.S. regions, and why is it so hard for struggling metro areas to reverse multi-decade trends? These are the questions that urban economist Enrico Moretti addresses in The New Geography of Jobs. In his vision, innovative workers and companies create prosperity that flows broadly, but these gains are mostly metropolitan in scale, meaning that geography substantially determines economic vitality. [...] Moretti has written a clear and insightful account of the economic forces that are shaping America and its regions, and he rightly celebrates human capital and innovation as the fundamental sources of economic development.and#8221;
and#8212; Brookings Institution (Jonathan Rothwell)
and#8220;An important new book.and#8221;
and#8212; The American
and#8220;A bold vision.and#8221;
and#8212; MIT Sloan Management Review
and#8220;Enrico Morettiand#8217;s, The New Geography of Jobs has been exceptionally well received by many of the economic development literati. Some commentators have described New Geography as the best economic development book of 2012. And if you donand#8217;t read New Geography, you would also miss reading the best, most readable explanation and defense of innovation, knowledge-based economics and their effects on the location of jobs in the United States. There is a lot going on in New Geography.and#8221;
and#8212; Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development
and#8220;Economist Enrico Moretti finds that earnings of a high school graduate increase 7% for every 10% increase in the percent of people in a city that are college graduates. While having more high-skilled workers around tends to raise everyone's salaries, Moretti's research shows that low-skilled workers benefit four to five times more than college graduates. Even as liberals work to find a way to counteract the problem of the 1 percent, they should view HSI as a step toward turning America back into a true middle-class society.and#8221;
and#8212; The Atlantic
and#8220;Prof. Moretti's findings are both significant and provocative.and#8221;
and#8212; Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and#12288;
and#8220;[There is] a growing divide among American cities. The winnter are metro areas like Raleigh, N.C.,and#160; San Francisco, and Stamford C.T. where more than 40 percent of the adult residents have college degrees. The Raleigh area has a booming technology sector and several major research universities; San Francisco has been a magnet for college graduates for decades; and metropolitan Stamford draws highly educated workers from white-collar professions in New York like finance. Metro areas like Bakersfield, Calif., Lakeland, Fla., and Youngstown, Ohio, where less than a fifth of the adult residents have college degrees, are being left behind. The divide shows signs of widening as college graduates gravitate to places with many other college graduates and the atmosphere that creates. "This is one of the most important developments in the recent economic history of this country," said Enrico Moretti, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who recently published a book on the topic, The New Geography of Jobs.and#8221;
and#8212; The New York Times (Sabrina Tavernise)
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs, by Enrico Moretti of U.C. Berkeley, provides an excellent big-picture analysis of the increasingly divergent outlook for our nationand#8217;s cities and delves into the reasons why this disparity is likely to widen. [and#8230;] Highly recommended, a compelling read!and#8221;
and#8212; Talking about Finance (Eric Von Berg)
and#8220;This book convincingly argues that an unprecedented redistribution of jobs, population and wealth is underway in this country.and#8221;
and#8212; CNBC
and#8220;Remember author Thomas Friedmanand#8217;s argument that the world was flat, and where you lived didnand#8217;t matter, because with e-mail, cell phones, and the Internet, you could do business all over the world? Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti pretty much says "that is so 10 years ago!" In fact, Moretti says the opposite has happened. Thereand#8217;s a sea change going on, a redistribution of population and wealth fueled by innovative companies that need to be in ecosystems to thrive.and#8221;
and#8212; NPR Here and Now
and#8220;Amid growing concern about its outsourcing practices, Apple has posted a study showing that it has created or supported more than 514,000 jobs in the United States. U.C. Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti has written a book about this kind of indirect job creation. He says Apple's total jobs creation estimate is too high and#8212; the real total is somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000. 'My research suggests that for each additional job in the average high-tech firm, five additional jobs are created outside that firm in the local community,' Moretti says. And when well-paid tech employees spend a lot of money, that also creates jobs. According to Moretti, 'That would suggest that at the local level, Apple generates about 300,000 jobs all together in the U.S.'and#8221;
and#8212; All Things Considered
and#8220;The dueling speeches on the economy by Obama and Romney simply offered national solutions. Yet so many cities and states are on a strong comeback. Each place has unique reasons for doing well, such as natural resources or creative universities. New York City thrives on finance, arts, tourism. Washington, D.C., prospers on tax and visitor dollars. Many places have largely defied the sluggishness in the national economy. These growth centers could become Americaand#8217;s pathway back to prosperity. They not only hold lessons for what other places can do, but they can serve as magnets for the unemployed. More than ever, local communities are the secret of economic success" in a global economy, finds Enrico Moretti, an economics professor at the University of California Berkeley , and author of a new book, The New Geography of Jobs. Like many scholars now studying microeconomies, Dr. Moretti sees the mobility of workers to low-employment cities as an easy solution to improve the national economy. and#8216;Your salary depends more on where you live than your rand#233;sumand#233;,and#8217; he writes.and#8221; and#8212; Christian Science Monitor
and#8220;Politicians from both parties, acutely aware that voters are giving a critical eye to the unemployment rate, continue to tout a rebirth in American manufacturing as the key to job growth. However, not everyone agrees that more manufacturing equals more jobs. In his book The New Geography of Jobs, University of California at Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the information economy is a driver of job growth. The problem, according to Moretti, is that we often look at places like Palo Alto, Calif., with its office parks, Stanford University campus and ambitious entrepreneurs, and fail to recognize the ripples that tech companies send through the greater economy. Using reams of U.S. Census data, Moretti estimates that for every job created by the likes of Apple or Cisco Systems, another five jobs are added in the local service industry.and#8221;
and#8212; TERRENCE MURRAY, The Financialist
and#8220;Excellentand#8221;
and#8212;The National Review
and#8220;Enrico Moretti's provocative new book on the geography of prosperity grapples with such issues and states that research universities increase both the supply and demand for college graduates, but he criticizes efforts to create universities where there is no pre-existing ecosystem of industrial activity and research. The implication is that if you are mayor of El Paso, Modesto, Las Vegas, or Buffalo, you might as well give up on purposeful efforts. Success, in large part, comes down to luck and history. If you are fortunate enough to be Seattle, two local boys grow up to become Bill Gates and Paul Allen and eventually decide to locate their company, Microsoft, there.and#8221;
and#8212;The New Republic
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti offers a readable and comprehensive view of the economic forces at work in the nation's metropolitan areas. Moretti, an economist at the University of California Berkeley, offers a comprehensive and non-technical discussion of the shift to a knowledge-based economy, the growing importance of human capital to individual and community economic success, and the critical role played by industry clustering in driving innovation and productivity. For Moretti, this shift to a knowledge economy means the economic prospects of cities are diverging: adaptable places with talent are becoming more prosperous, while those with less talent and locked in to traditional industries struggle.and#8221;
and#8212;The Huffington Post
and#8220;If there's one current book I would recommend to leaders in American cities today, itand#8217;s Enrico Morettiand#8217;s The New Geography of Jobs.and#8221;
and#8212;Aaron M. Renn in Urbanophile
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs has affected the way I see the world.and#8221;
and#8212;Jim Russell
and#8220;Some economic texts get lost in the minutia. However, The New Geography of Jobs takes a step back to revel in the Big Picture where the real patterns of commerce can be explored.and#8221;
and#8212;Carrie B. Reyes
and#8220;This important book by a U. Cal Berkeley economics professor contains vital insights and data about the nature of jobs in our new economy.and#160; The thesis he unveils is, at its core, extraordinarily encouraging because American innovators have so much untapped potential.and#160; Moretti gets special points for observing that Friedmanand#8217;s The World Is Flat thesis is simply wrong.and#160; In Morettiand#8217;s opinion the data donand#8217;t support this view. And despite all the hype about the and#8220;death of distanceand#8221; and the and#8220;flat worldand#8221;, where you live matters more than ever.and#8221;
and#8212;Mark Mills, Forbes
and#8220;Just finished Cal economist Enrico Morettiand#8217;s excellentand#160; The New Geography of Jobs. Moretti has a way of looking at things we all know in new and refreshing ways.and#8221;
and#8212;Mike Cassidy, Silicon Beat
and#8220;Moretti has written a clear and insightful account of the economic forces that are shaping America and its regions, and he rightly celebrates human capital and innovation as the fundamental sources of economic development.and#8221;
and#8212;The New Republic
and#8220;In his book The New Geography of Jobs, Moretti unpacks the forces that are reshaping America. Whereas the 20th century was defined by physical capital producing physical goods, the 21st century is increasingly driven by human capital and its output of innovation and knowledge. Smart people tend to cluster into globally competitive and#8220;brain hubsand#8221;and#160; that, in Morettiand#8217;s eyes, will form the basis for much of Americaand#8217;s future prosperity.and#8221;
and#8212;Free Enterprise
and#8220;I highly recommend to everyone in business or wanting to be in business.and#8221;
and#8212;Kathleen Quinn Votaw
and#8220;It is a great and disturbing book about the sweeping changes that are going on in American communities.and#8221;
and#8212;Reuters
and#8220;The New Geography of Jobs is arguably the most important book about urban economics published this year. Author Enrico Moretti, an Italian-born economics professor at Berkeley, analyzes the great divergence occurring between metropolitan regions in the United States. While much of his narrative about the innovation sector as the key driver in regional growth will be familiar to readers of Richard Florida, Moretti provides a valuable counter-balance to Floridaand#8217;s theories about the creative class.and#8221;
and#8212;Bacon's Rebellion
and#8220;We are habituated to thinking about U.S. inequality across people: By education, race, and ethnicity. Moretti convincingly demonstrates that the inequalities that matter most in early 21st century America are the differences across places. An individual standard of living is increasingly determined by where she lives, not just what she does. Wages are higher, and unemployment lower, for workers living in an 'innovation cluster' than for comparably educated workers outside of these privileged places.and#8221;
and#8212;Inside Higher Ed
and#8220;If youand#8217;re thinking of a career change or new employment, or if job creation is your Number One priority this year, this is a book youand#8217;ll want first. Youand#8217;ll need solid, hard-core information to do it. And for that, The New Geography of Jobs is hard to resist.and#8221;
and#8212;Independent News
and#8220;Moretti has done a good deed by sitting down to write. He's clear and concise. He has tackled these vexing questions from many angles - the decline in American manufacturing; the phenomenon of path dependency that he calls The Great Divergence; the reason why people choose to live where they live. He has writer's knack for pulling out the illustrative detail while never losing the broad sweep of events. It is truly a skill to be equally at home in the abstract realm of statistics and the very emotion-laden world of human decision-making. Most economists forget that the conclusions they draw from their sample populations also contain the drama of people's actual lives within them. Moretti remembers this while avoiding another trap of economists. He doesn't leave his story in the realm of the theoretical, but constantly brings his tale back to real-world existence in a way that amplifies the argument by making it coincide with everyday experience. Most importantly, he knows his subject well and he's talking about something that is shaping our future more than we realize.and#8221;
and#8212;Sam Seidel
An economist at Berkeley looks at the major shifts taking place in the U.S. economy and reveals the surprising winners and losersand#8212;specifically, which kinds of jobs will drive economic growth and where theyand#8217;ll be locatedand#8212;while exploring how communities can transform themselves into dynamic innovation hubs.