Colleges Can Spark a Rust Belt Revival

I believe that Ross Douthat of the New York Times is right to say that the U.S. (and, really, the world) needs big, bold ideas right now. In a recent article, Douthat puts forth some appropriately bold thoughts about how to revive the country’s struggling regions. One of his ideas -- creating more college towns -- is truly excellent, and could be the keystone of a new U.S. region-based industrial policy.

There’s no question that the U.S. has a great many places that are struggling economically and socially. Many are concentrated in the upper Midwest and Northeast -- the so-called Rust Belt -- but the division is really more about how much human capital a place has. In his book “The New Geography of Jobs,” economist Enrico Moretti shows that technology hubs -- large innovative cities and college towns -- are doing well while other towns languish. The reason is that as the U.S. shifts from old-line manufacturing toward innovative industries like software and biotech, it’s more important for companies to cluster together in places that have a lot of highly talented workers.