Cities as economic engine — and trainwreck

Cities are key to our economic future. They represent the center of economic systems, and they are wear national policy either plays out or disappears. Richard Florida is surely right when he says we need to focus on them. But is he also saying that we need to focus on ly on those that are growing? He does not say this directly, but he could be clearer about what he thinks. Because cities that are not growing will become a drag on our economy, long-term. They need a good boost of ideas that are working in other places. It’s clear from the chart he uses that there is not spillover based on geography: Witness the presence of Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth among the top 11 in a ranking of metro productivity, versus McAllen and Brownsville near the bottom of the chart.

How do we bridge that gap?