The Flight of the Creative Class

Research-driven and clearly written, bestselling economist Richard Florida will address the growing alarm over high-value jobs leaving America. The most valued workers today are what the economist Richard Florida calls the Creative Class, skilled individuals ranging from money managers to make-up artists, software programmers to steady-cam operators who are in constant demand around the world. In The Flight of the Creative Class, Florida looks at the global competition to attract the Creative Class. The United States was, up until 2002, the unparalleled leader in creative capital. But several key events--the Bush administrations emphasis on smokestack industries, heightened security concerns after 9/11 and the growing cultural divide between conservatives and liberals, have put the US at a substantial dis-advantage. At the same time, numerous small countries, from Ireland to New Zealand and beyond, have discovered the enormous economic value of this class and are doing everything in their power to attract these workers and build a robust economy driven by creative capital.