Synopses & Reviews
The United States must remake its economy if it is to achieve sustainable prosperity in a world that continues to transform at a dizzying pace. Americans must move from an economy driven by domestic consumption, debt, and financial engineering to one that is driven by exports, powered by cleaner energy, fueled by innovation, and is rich in opportunity. Movement toward such an economy, in the view of Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, must be led by metropolitan areas.
The Metropolitan Moment details the most important attributes of America's next economy, with a chapter devoted to each. For example, as wealth increases in nations such as China, India, and Brazil, greater U.S. emphasis on exports would capitalize on rising global demand. Aggressive investment in, and movement toward, a low-carbon economy will present new opportunities for the energy sector and the industries that feed it, as well as improving the health and quality of life for residents. Greater innovation in other areas as well must be pursued, supported, and sustained if we hope to see real growth in the long term. Taken together, these developments will help increase economic opportunity for all, reversing the long trend of increased inequality that can dispirit and even destabilize a society.
The final section explores the unfortunate disjunction between the economic power of metropolitan areas and their legal powerlessness. Despite their obvious importance, they technically do not even exist in state law. Katz and Bradley explain how states can help build the foundation of the new economy, and a big part of that is adequately supporting their metropolitan economic engines. They also explain the federal government's role in this transformation --what it can do to help, and what it should not do.
Katz and Bradley call for a view of America based on reality, not nostalgia. The real America is not the romantic small-town version of days gone by. Rather, it is a complicated, multi-ethnic, globally connected metropolitan nation that will power its citizens through the 21st century. The sooner America realizes what it really is, the sooner it can begin rebuilding itself.
Synopsis
Across the US, cities and metropolitan areas are facing huge economic and competitive challenges that Washington won't, or can't, solve. The good news is that networks of metropolitan leaders - mayors, business and labor leaders, educators, and philanthropists - are stepping up and powering the nation forward. These state and local leaders are doing the hard work to grow more jobs and make their communities more prosperous, and they're investing in infrastructure, making manufacturing a priority, and equipping workers with the skills they need.
In The Metropolitan Revolution, Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley highlight success stories and the people behind them.
- New York City: Efforts are under way to diversify the city's vast economy
- Portland: Is selling the sustainability solutions it has perfected to other cities around the world
- Northeast Ohio: Groups are using industrial-age skills to invent new twenty-first-century materials, tools, and processes
- Houston: Modern settlement house helps immigrants climb the employment ladder
- Miami: Innovators are forging strong ties with Brazil and other nations
- Denver and Los Angeles: Leaders are breaking political barriers and building world-class metropolises
- Boston and Detroit: Innovation districts are hatching ideas to power these economies for the next century
The lessons in this book can help other cities meet their challenges. Change is happening, and every community in the country can benefit. Change happens where we live, and if leaders won't do it, citizens should demand it.
The Metropolitan Revolution was the 2013 Foreword Reviews Bronze winner for Political Science.