The American Spectator

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(Page 5 of 9)

. Who needs what worse? Does China need our dollars worse than we need cheap shoes? Note: If anything like this does begin to happen, you might want to short Wal-Mart (WMT). The retailing giant's foreign purchases amount to 10 percent of the U.S. account deficit. /p> p> FLORIDA REVISITED br> Re: Shawn Macomber's Dr. Florida's Fever Swamps : /p>

I can't imagine how wrong an economist can be:

* The creative classes he advocates, about half of the occupations, sit like predators at the top of the food chain. Adding little economic value other than ethos (musicians, artists, lawyers). They represent extractive diversions that add little to GDP.

* The other half of the occupations (programmers, IT geeks, etc.) first require few in number to have large economic impacts as the product they produce can be cloned to infinity with little operational cost per unit produced. These occupations also have the disturbing attribute of collapsing supply chains and organizational cycles requiring fewer workers as the automation takes hold. So in a sense they become net negative job creators even though they add tremendously to the overall GDP.

* Generational preferences are overemphasized. When I was 25, I loved living in the city. The lights, glitz and lifestyle was fun. Now I am in my 50's and you could not get me to live there for I see it as cramped, noisy and expensive. A majority of Americans go through this same shift in their lives. Which leads into:

* The generation gap. I am the tail end of the baby boomers. My son's generation that would be part of the creative class is approximately 2/3 the size of the boomer generation. In sheer numbers, and issues related to multiplicative economic impacts, my son's generation will have less economic impact per transaction even though their income level maybe higher.

* Corporate decisions don't seem to be a factor in Dr. Florida's analysis. If you look at Microsoft, Oracle, Level 3, and the rest of the high tech sector, they invariably locate in suburban locales with ready interstate access. Ironically the "old industries" that Florida shuns -- banking, automotive, professional services -- are located where he does not expect them -- urban centers.

* Finally Dr. Florida needs to take a course in History of Cinema. My gut says that the number of films done outside of the U.S. in this decade is on par with previous decades. Most of the Oscar winners every year are peppered with blockbuster films filmed elsewhere. Nor should he worry too much. The U.S. has almost a virtual lock on digital film generation. The major production tools, not the studios, are U.S. based. The diversity of landscape here in the U.S. is nearly unmatched anywhere else.

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