How the Crash Will Reshape America by Richard Florida

It’s always nice to stop by Creative Class by the Richard Florida squad. Following links I hit the “How the Crash Will Reshape America” published in the Atlantic in the March 2009 issue.

As I have said sometimes, I like Florida. It seems to be kind of funny that all academics related to the discipline of economic geography say “Florida’s ideas are good, BUT…” It seems that they have to say that in order to show their academic credentials.
So, I of course have to say the same. However, for this last document I admit I have very little objection or none.
He clearly explains the change of economic paradigms and how the American cities have to evolve. He quotes Schumpeter, Jacobs, Romer, Glaeser, Lucas, Krugman among some of the key fellows. His final proposals to change the housing market towards a more renting instead of owning are bold. Which is exactly what the U.S., and great part of the world needs now. Not so much Denmark, but this will be especially fit for my home country Spain.

The solution begins with the removal of homeownership from its long-privileged place at the center of the U.S. economy. Substantial incentives for homeownership (from tax breaks to artificially low mortgage-interest rates) distort demand, encouraging people to buy bigger houses than they otherwise would. That means less spending on medical technology, or software, or alternative energy—the sectors and products that could drive U.S. growth and exports in the coming years. Artificial demand for bigger houses also skews residential patterns, leading to excessive low-density suburban growth. The measures that prop up this demand should be eliminated.

If anything, our government policies should encourage renting, not buying. Homeownership occupies a central place in the American Dream primarily because decades of policy have put it there. A recent study by Grace Wong, an economist at the Wharton School of Business, shows that, controlling for income and demographics, homeowners are no happier than renters, nor do they report lower levels of stress or higher levels of self-esteem.

Once again I have to say, thank you Richard!

Where are the effective local & regional policies now?

Where are the boom cities, the hot cities lists?. Today we can’t find “good” national policies. If there is any national government doing the homework, please let me know. But, what about the local and regional ones? Sure we have some doing the right thing. Where are they? Are they all blaming it on the national governments or the global economy?

These last years we used to talk about the mighty far East. Even for urban planners these cities were the way to go. Well, here is a World Bank report who wonders Will Cities Survive the Financial Crisis?.

It calls my attention this paragraph from the article: “Through the lenses of history, geography and economics, the report sheds new light on questions such as: Is urbanization today unprecedented in its speed? Are the slums we see in developing countries evidence of failed urban policies? Should cities in the developing world be kept small? The answer to all three questions is the same: No“