Richard Florida

Ever heard of Dr. Richard Florida? In 2002, he defined a cross-section of the American workforce that he dubbed the "creative class." He uses traditional statistics to draw his conclusions. His innovation is the analysis he applies to the numbers. In his seminal work, The Rise of the Creative Class, he concluded "creative" people are not defined by the traditional demographics of age, education or income. Rather, they are people who strive to be creative in their jobs. To do that, they choose to be hair stylists instead of computer code writers, even though code writers make considerably more money.

That's just one example. Here's another... he disagrees with Thomas Friedman's contention that The World is Flat. Instead, Florida says it is spiky, with sub-regions thriving while others decay. I see that in my home state of North Dakota. Select population centers thrive and bustle, while most of the rural areas crumble. But this phenomenom does not just apply to rural states like North Dakota. It is happening everywhere in the world. According to Florida, wherever the creative class congregates, economic prosperity follows. Through his analysis, he has identified the phenomena on a smaller sub-region level than any other economist I have seen.

His work has revolutionized the way I think about economic growth and decline, generational differences in the workforce, career choices and even politics. One of his blog postings is an excellent analysis of how the creative class has asserted itself in its support of Barack Obama because to them he represents a kind of post-partisanism that meshes with their worldview.

I encourage you to check out his work. Read his blog. Check out the web site for the Creative Class Group, a for-profit he founded to develop and promote his theories. I've seen him twice in person and he is like the rock star economist ... well-dressed, no pocket protector, dynamic. I've been reminded of him lately because his newest book, Who's Your City?, just hit the bookshelves last month. It explains why choosing where you live might be the most important decision you'll ever make, in terms of job, dating, hobbies, etc.