Hope to Be the Next Silicon Valley? What Every Mayor Should Know
| March 10, 2008 |  View for printing |
Too many local leaders still rely on "firm-chasing" (once called "smokestack-chasing"), in which established companies are lured away from other cities with targeted tax incentives and subsidies.
A better strategy for sustained economic growth in cities, regions, and for the nation as a whole is to create an economic climate conducive to entrepreneurship.
Over the past 30 years, the gap between successful and unsuccessful cities has been growing, which suggests that economics, like politics, is increasingly local. The rising importance of local economies, and their importance to voters, should make economic growth and competitiveness a high priority for mayors. Yet even as the United States and world economies have changed dramatically over the past 25 years, mayors' strategies for bringing economic growth and jobs to their communities have remained largely unchanged.
By Ed Glaeser and Robert Litan
Full Story: http://governing.com/articles/mayors-gl.htm
Transforming cities into competitive hubs for economic growth is a top priority for our nation's mayors. Yet, the traditional "firm chasing" and incentivizing efforts frequently fall short. This week, I welcome guest authors Ed Glaeser of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Robert Litan of the Kauffman Foundation to address this issue. Their recent report, Entrepreneurship and Urban Success: Toward a Policy Consensus (available at http://www.kauffman.org/policy), argues that city leaders must make their civic climates more hospitable to entrepreneurial innovation. And on March 25, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, the Harvard Kennedy School will host an online roundtable with the report's authors. I urge you to attend what promises to be a thought-provoking conversation. (Registration for this event is required, and it is free of charge.)
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