The New Geography Of Jobs

We're used to thinking of the US in opposing terms: red versus blue, haves versus have-nots. But today, there are three Americas. At one extreme are the brain hubs - cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Durham - with workers who are among the most productive, creative, and best-paid on the planet. At the other extreme are former manufacturing capitals that are rapidly losing jobs and residents. The rest of America could go either way.

You hear a lot these days about "innovation and entrepreneurship" and about how "good jobs" in tech will save our cities. Yet these common tropes hide a stunning reality: local lives and fortunes are tied to global capital. You see this clearly in metropolises such as San Francisco and New York that have emerged as "superstar cities." In these cities, startups bloom, jobs of the future multiply, and a meritocracy trained in digital technology, backed by investors who control deep pools of capital, forms a new class: the tech-financial elite.

In March of 2018, 44 African countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to launch what is considered as the largest free trade area in the world. The signing of the agreement has been hailed as a major breakthrough for African development by African countries and organizations as well as external observers of African affairs. This is not the first time African countries have proposed a new organizational and institutional structure for development. African countries have signed at least 13 regional trade agreements (RTAs) for intraregional trade since 1959. However, the track record of these groups has been relatively mediocre compared to RTAs elsewhere. Thus, Africa has the lowest percentage of intracontinental trade in the world.

In March of 2018, 44 African countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to launch what is considered as the largest free trade area in the world. The signing of the agreement has been hailed as a major breakthrough for African development by African countries and organizations as well as external observers of African affairs. This is not the first time African countries have proposed a new organizational and institutional structure for development. African countries have signed at least 13 regional trade agreements (RTAs) for intraregional trade since 1959. However, the track record of these groups has been relatively mediocre compared to RTAs elsewhere. Thus, Africa has the lowest percentage of intracontinental trade in the world.