Yesterday, the innovative US urban economist Richard Florida gave a talk in Cork about the future of cities.
Florida has been at the vanguard of new thinking about how cities, rather than countries, create economic dynamism. The nub of his argument, building on the work of the great urbanist Jane Jacobs, is that cities – where people are constantly chatting, talking, trading with each other – are the bedrocks of innovation.
Florida has identified a new group he calls the “creative class”, who work with the right-hand side of the brain. With some compelling evidence, he concludes that those US cities with a high proportion of artists, writers, software engineers, architects, and designers are the ones with the strongest growth rates, the highest standards of living and the most satisfied citizens.
In contrast, cities with a much higher blue-collar population are stagnating and are much more susceptible to competition from the third world, particularly China.
Countries such as ours (Ireland is a city-sized country) should cultivate their creative classes to grow in the years ahead. And to do that, they need to be open and tolerant.
There is, and has always been, a strong correlation between tolerance and wealth. The more open, tolerant and irreverent a society, and the more foreigners and non-mainstream people living in it, the more effervescent the economy. When countries or cities become less tolerant (such as in parts of eastern Europe and Brexit Britain today for example), the creative class flees to other much more attractive places, where the arts and culture are flourishing.
Therefore, the very essence of the city – its architecture, restaurants, art galleries, open spaces, public parks – is part of the selling package for the economy of the region. This is soft economic power. In the past, hard economic power – such as steel and coal reserves, large populations and/or political or military might – mattered.
Today, what matters is the essential feel of a place, its culture, the experience, the mix of people, the nightlife and the lifestyle.
For a high-wage country such as Ireland, the way to stay ahead of the game is to invest heavily in its “vibe”.
Positive link
For example, in the US, there is a strong positive link between the creative class and the “gay index” (the concentration of gay people and the relative tolerance of legislation in a city or state). The reason for this is gay people are much more likely to feel comfortable settling in tolerant cities, and these places are also much more likely to display soft economic power. (This is not to say gay people are more creative, but where you see a significant presence of a creative class, you also see more gay people.)
Until very recently, gay people were social “outsiders” and it has long been noted that outsiders of one kind or another have the potential to create disproportionate economic wealth. Economic history is full of examples of the link between outsiders and economic vibrancy.
Take, for example, the history of a group of medieval outsiders – the Jews. From Babylon and Alexandria to Seville, ancient cities that were tolerant of their Jews prospered. When Jews were later banished, in a matter of years those cities began to founder commercially.
Imperial Spain and Portugal had sizeable Jewish populations in the 15th century. Jews there were involved in trading, science, the professions and among other things astrology. Spanish and Portuguese explorers were successful partly because they had the best navigators – often Jewish astronomers.
The countries flourished until the Inquisition, when Jews were expelled and pursuits such as curiosity, science and inquiry were discouraged – indeed they were regarded as superfluous because the Vatican had all the answers.
Gradually, Portugal and Spain went into centuries of decline, and the Church’s intellectual stranglehold on Iberia strengthened. As late as 1746, the Jesuits in Spain banned the teachings of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. While the expulsion of Jews was bad enough in itself, this expulsion also represented a closing off of Iberia from the rest of the world in terms of both ideas and trade.
The history of Sicily is even more alarming in terms of the links between commerce, wealth and tolerance. Until the 15th century, Sicily was rich, sophisticated, tolerant, mixed, multilingual and important. He who controlled Sicily controlled the Mediterranean, and he who controlled the Mediterranean controlled the world.
In 1492, a great tragedy befell Sicily. The island was under the control of the crown of Castile, and when Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain ordered the expulsion of all Jews and Moors from Spain, Sicily had to follow suit. Jews had played a disproportionate role in trade as well as in the professions, particularly medicine and pharmacy.
Bearing arms
Gradually, a series of orders was passed that compelled Jews to sell their assets and pay all their outstanding debts immediately and, most ominously, barred them from bearing arms.
Within a few years what was left of Sicilian trade after the devastating first decrees collapsed to almost nothing. Economically, Sicily went into a tailspin. Without the Jewish traders (who had formed only a tiny percentage of the population), no one traded. Without trade, there was no cash and without cash, there were no jobs.
Economic history offers many examples of how countries and cities that are open to new ideas, new ways of thinking and new people thrive. Those that become intolerant go backwards. In the above example, openness to Jewish people underscored the attitude of Sicily not just to Jews but to all sorts of other dissenters from the mainstream. These were the ancient creative class.
As politics all over the western world veers towards nationalism, isolationism and exceptionalism, it seems wise to be aware of the link between economic wealth and tolerance.
The economic lessons are straightforward. A society intolerant of outsiders tends not to be curious about other things, tends to stifle debate, lets local big-wigs go unthreatened, and allows a small coterie of insiders stitch up the economy.
The smart successful economies of the next 20 years will be those that foster the right conditions for the creative class to flourish. Ireland should be that place.
Err yr too late David: Ireland, the UK and the Anglosphere did it long ago The UK has the world’s second largest arts industry behind the US: commonly called the Creative Industries it is worth £10 million an hour – every hour – every day of 365 days of the year: worth £84.1 billion per year to the UK economy: projected to be worth £100 billion by 2019: it grew by 8.9 per cent in 2014 and it employs 3.04 million people. The value of services exported by the UK creative industries rose by 10.9 per cent to total £19.8bn… Read more »
Hi, You started off talking about Richard Florida and cities and wound up eulogizing the Jews. A very odd correlation. Let me point out to you a very macabre re posit; The Germans killed every Jew in Germany however, Germany is once again in its rightful place as the economic power house of Europe but guess what? It’s nothing got to do with the Jews or religion. “A society intolerant of outsiders tends not to be curious about other things, tends to stifle debate, lets local big-wigs go unthreatned, and allows a small coterie of insiders stitch up the economy”… Read more »
Surely the fact that Jews provided a money lending service being able to charge interest, a trade denied to Catholics, was of some significance, in that access to borrowed capital was available? Also – doctors and pharmacists? Come on – about 3 drugs worked in those days and the doctors often did as much damage as the disease. Blood letting, anyone?
David – Very surprised you skimmed over Jane Jacobs so quickly. Her and her husbands work on cities is so relevant to vibrant living cities, particularly now as we are proposing to expand all our major cities and we have generally made a total hash of it since the 1950’s. Principally as you are an ardent commentator on housing and the economy. You really should give this some better in-depth coverage as it is so pertinent and relevant today and for our future cities and society. Cities as Ecosystems, Mixed Use Development, Bottom Up Community Planning, The Case for Higher… Read more »
Don’t get me wrong.
I’m all for nourishing creativity etc but you can’t beat hard work.
In other words creativity without work ethic is virtually useless.
The most creative people I know wetidamn hard working people too.
“When countries or cities become less tolerant (such as in parts of eastern Europe and Brexit Britain today for example)” – so germane that David, in his blissful ignorance, mentions eastern Europe or Brexit Britain but he doesn’t mention Germany, where – unlike in ANY part of eastern Europe – there are neo-Nazi demonstrations and acts of neo-Nazi violence every day: https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/arbeitsfelder/af-rechtsextremismus/zahlen-und-fakten-rechtsextremismus/rechtsextremistische-straf-und-gewalttaten-2016 Here a German dignitary gives a Nazi salute to the German Olympic team at 2012 (sic!) Olympic Ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_2vkJvPyKA I think that right now, the best example of an intolerant country is the intolerance of the (native) whites… Read more »
DAVID I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU
.
-> THE MORE DIVERSE A COUNTRY
-> THE LESS TOLERANT ITS PEOPLE
=>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/5012478.stm
IS IT FAIR TO CONCLUDE?
-> THE MORE TOLERANT A COUNTRY
-> THE LESS DIVERSE ITS PEOPLE
=> BECAUSE FAR AWAY HILLS ARE GREENER!
HA!
-> TO LIKE DIVERSITY IN TRAVEL
=> AND FAMILIARITY AT HOME
Once upon a time there was a guy called Kevin Myeres who wrote both good stuff and pleanty of rubbish.
One day he said somethibg like “Jews are not known for selling their skills for the cheapest price” then he got fired from his job.
Since then Journalists have being queueing up and bending over backwards to credit Jews for inventing the wheel and preventing the sky from falling in.
GENIUS for some folks with the Chutzpah to do it is …. ; “TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HEADING ; The greatest threat to America and American Eskimo communities is the Eskimo State SUB-HEADING Gold means nothing. Its as “fiat” as paper. It’s technology that matters. by Brendon O’Connell JULY 2018 (henrymakow.com) One of the “reserve currency’s” people forget about is the US 5th and 6th Fleet. If only good American Generals of a Patton or McArthur caliber were running them. Also, the US has the greatest technological lead on anyone on the planet – ever. The US made… Read more »
The fact is humans in general are all creative, even the ones that tell you they’re not are, we all have a left and right brain, the education system either fosters creativity or it does not. Statistics show things that may or may not exist in the real world all the time. Statistics require a certain amount of common sense in their application though. Ironically, I cannot think of a better example than Israel for disproving Florida’s theory, it’s beyond perfect. Instead of looking to ancient history consider the recent history of the Jews that we can verify. When it… Read more »
E Michael Jones PhD 1 OF THE TRULY OUTSTANDING THINKERS OF OUR TIME Great Speaker. AND, THIS INTERVIEW IS VERY VERY PERTINENT TO DAVID’S ARTICLE By the way, Mick Wallace, TD gets mention in Jone’s recount of recent trip where Jones addressed the Mullahs of Iran ; Wallace was with Jones. But, maybe not in the 2 youtube videos I retrieved to give as links below. Noteworthy anecdotes about Wallace. Has interesting comments about current Primate of Ireland Professor Jones is : Expert on Usury Expert on Culture Expert on History Expert on Political Science Philosopher Editor of Culture Wars… Read more »
Creativity is a wriggly fish. Some kinds may be encouraged (Silicon Valley-like) while others emerge from adversity (give The Accusation by Bandi a read, he’s North Korea’s Solzhenitsyn). To link such a wriggly fish with cities or being gay – or even education (though Edward de Bono was given a chance) – is like linking World Cup teams with Nike equipment or being brought up on the streets. Easy for economists or ad-men to waffle about in a pc way, less easy to prove or disprove. Incidentally, Ireland hasn’t done too badly in the creativity stakes, both by those in… Read more »
Two instances where human rights are being denied by agents of the government. both are a direct attack on the structure and unity of the family as the essential building block of the society. Abortion is another facet of that issue. Yet another is the diversification issue that is really another name for destruction of the nation through ghettoization. We need to nourish our families not destroy them. Nourish the nation not destroy it. https://www.thedailybell.com/all-articles/news-analysis/kidnappers-the-tyranny-of-child-protective-services-across-the-nation/ https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/altering-human-genetics-through-vaccination/ One other thought about the wonderful opportunities of living in the cities. All comes crashing down when food supplies fail. Ireland of all nations… Read more »
I think the push for immigration and diversity is really about bringing in cheap labour to compete with and push down the cost of labour so as to increase both production and profit margins for the greedy pigs at the top.
Those who own the corporate media can affort to pay journalists to dress it up as diversity.
Most of the immigrants who come to Ireland are good people but they are compitition for lower paid workers by being slaves for the greedy pigs who control the economy.
ON-TOPIC
Here, class, a “creative” statement that kneeds to nourish Ireland’s noodle ;
But, not composed by me.
………………………………………………………
Ref.
A Joyce
?@AJoyceTOQ
We live in an age where you can build an entire culture around anal sex & venereal disease & then parade the streets with giant dildos & call it Pride.
But say you’re proud to come from a people that gave the world Aristotle, Shakespeare & Beethoven & you’re called a monster.
…………………………………………………………………
https://twitter.com/AJoyceTOQ/status/1013489864283754497
Sinister law-making has been created in the courts & An Dail by the Government [ Legislative & Executive & Judiciary ( LEJ ) ] over the years by stealth or chutzpah, whichever the device they deem fit accordingly, with confidence that the ignoramuses, whom the bulk of Irish aborigines & foreigners here essentially are & sadly so it is that they are, will accept the new laws over time, & even be conditioned to vote in referenda for to expand them & cement them into the Irish Constitution. HERE IS UP-&-COMING AGENDA THAT THE IRISH POPULACE WILL, IN TIME, CHAMPION… Read more »
THIS IS CREATIVITY LIKE NO OTHER ; U WANT TO CONTINUE TO BE BLIND TO IT ? U WANT TO NOURISH MORE OF THE LIKES OF IT ? HEADING ; Hamas Was Founded by Mossad By Hassane Zerrouky | Global Research via Conspiracy Planet December 29, 2008 PREFACE ; [The article below originally appeared in the French daily L’Humanité on December 14, 2001, translated to English by Global Outlook in 2002, and published by Global Research in March 2004. It shows how the so-called Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was founded by Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks (Mossad) with… Read more »
Actually, according to writers in the 1600s the decline of Spain and Portugal was due to the fact that they were uncompetitive at manufacturing when compared with the Low Countries, Germany and England. And while they were not in a customs union with England, the were in a customs union with the Low Countries – effectively tariff free trade for the lower cost producer. It was competitiveness, and the lack thereof that caused the problem. Spain built an expansive military, much in common with the welfare states of today, which protected Europe from Turkish conquest, and the machinations of Calvinists… Read more »
Concerning great Liberal, trendy, media connected, I am wondering, how is that creative genius Elon Musk doing……is it possible for San Francisco to beat Detroit, Japan Cars Inc, and the rest of the wold in car manufacturing ?
Will there be an article in the IT promoting the Tesla cars ?
The entire theory described in the article, is being tested with regard to Tesla. If Tesla becomes a success, then the article will be proven correct. If not, then the article becomes redundant.
SF sets the benchmark for tolerance……and here are the results.
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/07/03/major-medical-convention-abandons-san-francisco-citing-street-safety/
SWEDEN IS FULFILLING DMW’s ASPIRATIONS AS TO HOW TO RULE A EUROPEAN COUNTRY ;
As per the argument of his article above.
AND, SWEDEN IS NOW A HELL-HOLE
“DUAL-CITIZEN” ? ? ? 8-) Stefan Molyneux is a Gatekeeper & Dis-Info. Agent for the Egregore.
e.g.
On this topic, he never refers to Ms. Barbara Spectre ! ! !
Nonetheless, per the motivations at play in the lesser levels of the grand scheme of things, he does a good expose ;
HEADING ;
The Truth About Sweden. Prepare Yourself Accordingly
Stefan Molyneux
Jul 5, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH3koxGaHaQ
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhWVEHgU8AAzUM7?format=jpg&name=360×360
“Well, goodness gracious me, … I must inform yee of a “Meanwhile” bit of news ; HEADING ; Step Aside Italy: India Is Emerging As Ground Zero Of The World’s Biggest NPL Crisis by Tyler Durden 04 July2018 PREFACE ; While bad loans in the Italian banking system have received a ton of attention from investors who fear that the Italians could inadvertently blow up the European banking union, it’s not the only financial landmine lurking among the world’s ten largest economies. To wit, while Italy has the largest percentage of non-performing loans among the world’s largest economies, India isn’t… Read more »
SAME FAKE “CONFLICT OF POLITICS” HERE IN IRISH STATE ; BUT, THERE BEING MORE THAN 2 OPPOSING POLITICAL PARTIES. Grzegorz is pointing this out often. IF ONE IS TRULY CREATIVE IN A POSITIVE WAY ; ==> IRISH ESTABLISHMENT WILL : 1_ FEAR U ; Because, they fear that u — through Inventions, & Innovations, & Designs, will dismantle their Cosy Shop. e.g. Woe betide were u to invent or innovate or design game-changing Housing Unit & Construction Method & Housing Model & @ Super Cheap Price 2_ TRY TO DESTROY U Ref. https://www.henrymakow.com/2018/07/new-civil-war.html COMMENT ; Brendon O’Connell-2 said (July 4,… Read more »
David mentions Pharmacy ;
Beware of Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex ;
This post echoes Tony Brogan’s posts warning about the dangers of taking Vaccines ;
Although, I am not sure about that danger applies to every vaccine ;
How about :
Anti-Tetanus Vaccine ?
Anti-Rabies Vaccine ?
Returning to the specific topic of Pharmacy ;
Yes, some pharmaceutical products do heal ;
But, they can only do so because they replicate Natural Medicines got from Plants & Animals.
Indeed, part of ur own body, or another persons body, can be ur :
cure
healing.
INTERESTING LINK HERE ;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.helpfreetheearth.com/news1227_drugs.html
http://www.helpfreetheearth.com/img/almanac.jpg
PERTINENT TO “ASSUMPTIONS” & “SPURIOUS ALLEGATIONS IN POSTS”
BECAUSE … BECAUSE … BECAUSE
FACTS ARE FACTS
U CANNOT CREATE FACTS
BECAUSE … BECAUSE … BECAUSE
FACTS ARE FACTS
….
ad infinitum
Gems worth copying & pasting into Wordprocessing App. from the following thread link about a certain luminary who is considered artistically creative ;
Also, interesting stuff about a particular media-friendly Religious
TITLE ;
Senator David Norris and Leo Varadkar: “The Media Lie, Lie and Lie again”
http://www.politics.ie/forum/media/265089-senator-david-norris-leo-varadkar-media-lie-lie-lie-again.html
More Mass Immigration of Foreign Refugees [ as against Domestic Refugees ; e.g. Homeless + Roofless Irish Aborigines ] into Irish State coming ;
https://squawker.org/world/mass-immigration-2-0-is-coming-to-europe-27-european-and-28-african-nations-sign-marrakesh-declaration-to-increase-immigration-to-europe/
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dhh7GKJV4AAPLsX?format=jpg&name=360×360
Christopher Booker on fantasy (writing in 2011): “It might seem strange to link global warming and the futility of wind farms with the ongoing collapse of the euro. But in several directions at the moment we can see the unfolding of one of the hidden patterns shaping human affairs, which years ago I called “the fantasy cycle”. It is a pattern that recurs in personal lives, in politics, in history – and in storytelling. “When we embark on a course of action which is unconsciously driven by wishful thinking, all may seem to go well for a time, in what… Read more »
IRELAND NEEDS TO NOURISH ITS M-O-R-A-L CLASS Here is a Twitter Thread highlighting the New Normal being pushed by the Social Engineers Ms. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1 of the 9 Judges of USA Supreme Court, highlighted in this thread is for sure one sick female ; And, this is not to say that there are other sick Judges in the USA Supreme Court. How about our own Court Service ? ; Do we have sick dudes in it ? DO NOT FORGET THAT JUDGES OFTEN “CREATE” LAW FROM THE BENCH ; Even more important, some can “legislate from the Bench”.… Read more »