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Talent Retention Subsidies
Brain drain is a positive indicator. When an individual leaves her hometown, she benefits. The community did an excellent job educating its children. The best and brightest migrate. Michigan has...
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Cuba’s Talent Export Strategy
Brain drain is economic development. Exporting talent is a smart strategy. The return on investment for Cuba: So what might Cuba’s latest foray into medical diplomacy entail? In return for physicians...
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Shrinking City Myths
Pittsburgh is dying. Residents are fleeing the city. Via Chris Briem, immigrants will save the Rust Belt: “We’ve had neighborhoods decimated by population loss, and the only way we rebuild is by...
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What Can’t It Do? European Austerity Policies Now Giving the World...
Dolly and her offspring, Bonny, knew nothing of distant pastures Most people associate “brain drain” with developing nations. The idea being: a country that can’t support its most talented minds will...
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Geopolitics of Talent: United States vs. Brazil
An international trade war is brewing between the United States and Brazil. No, I’m not talking about the U.S. sugar cartel and the demise of our beloved Twinkies. The issue is talent and how Brazil...
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In Praise of Michigan Brain Drain
The brain drain out of Michigan is so bad it has its own term. Michigration describes the chronic talent exodus from this Rust Belt hellhole. Once you graduate from university, you get out of Detroit,...
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Boston Is Dying
Boston has a Detroit-sized brain drain problem. What good are all those world class universities and colleges if graduates flee the region? Michigan’s outmigration problem pales in comparison to the...
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The Heart of Demographic Doom
These days, a lot of places are dying. Varying degrees of demographic decline plagues the wealthiest countries. Projections for developing nations look dire, too. One of the gloomiest takes I read this...
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People Develop, Not Places
“People Develop, Not Places” is an odd tagline for a geographer. I picked it up from economist Michael Clemens. Place-centric thinking hinders economic development policy. Clemens and Lant Pritchett...
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Demographic Deception
For policy concerns such as brain drain, demographic facts take a backseat to mesofacts. What are mesofacts? Samuel Arbesman coined the term: Mesofacts are the facts that change neither too quickly nor...
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Brain Drain or ‘Outward Mobility’?
Brain drain is cause for celebration. That’s the main lesson I learned from my muse, Pittsburgh. Ignore the population numbers. Focus on the quality of migration and workforce. I think I’ve finally...
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London Brain Drain
Last week, I was in Baltimore at the Federal Reserve Bank branch office for a conference. Along with Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, we were “Redefining Rust Belt.” The conversation in Baltimore...
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End of Creative Class Migration
Richard Florida says the world is spiky. Thomas Friedman holds the opposite view. The world is flat. Truth be told, the world is spiky and flat. Both Florida and Friedman are wrong. The Creative Class...
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Silicon Valley’s New Jersey Problem
Allegedly, Silicon Valley is starved for talent. If the region doesn’t get more immigrants, the innovation engine will seize up. Vivek Wadhwa opines about the magic in jeopardy: Soon enough, other...
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Detroit Postmortem
Detroit is dead. The bankruptcy filing is the death certificate. After performing the autopsy, I’ve determined upward mobility killed Detroit. I’m not the only coroner on the case. Brad Plummer...
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Pittsburgh Booming
Economist Paul Krugman weighed in on the Detroit bankruptcy comparing the city to Pittsburgh. Krugman puts Pittsburgh in a flattering light. Worth noting that Pittsburgh’s municipal finances are...
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Urban Islands of Poverty and Bowling With Strangers
Not all poor urban neighborhoods suffer from the same poverty challenges. In fact, not all poor urban neighborhoods have a poverty problem. The poverty rate may be high, but the community provides a...
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Why the Impoverished Need to Move to the Cities With the Highest Housing Prices
We don’t flee troubled places so much as we seek opportunity. The story of migration is one of pull, not push. The story of brain drain is one of push, not pull. Policies designed to retain talent...
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London Hosts the Olympics: How Success for People Is a Failure of Place
Do you live in an escalator region (ER)? • Stage 1: ER attracts many young people with promotion potential at the start of their working lives – ‘stepping on the escalator’ • Stage 2: ER provides the...
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Northern New England Is Dying
Does your region want economic development or talent retention? Most communities pick plugging the brain drain. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are even willing to go so far as attracting businesses...
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