The New Republic

No, a region is not a corporation. And no, turning around a metropolitan area hardly resembles running a business. And yet it’s undeniable that key planning techniques of the best-run corporations can help a region set its course and drive toward prosperity. READ MORE >>

With the failure of cap and trade emission pricing in Washington and in international negotiations, we’re all wondering how to make progress on clean energy adoption without major leadership from the federal government. READ MORE >>

The other day I blogged about Steven Johnson’s new book, Where Good Ideas Come From, and noted what an incisive account the book provides of how and why some environments seem to breed new ideas effortlessly, while some squelch them.   The deep account Johnson offers of the special power of cities to provide rich networks, facilitate collisions, and accelerate borrowing deserves applause. READ MORE >>

Yesterday the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a new report strongly recommending a substantial ramp-up in federal spending on energy research that would roughly triple current amounts to bring the total to $16 billio READ MORE >>

I posted earlier about Joe Cortright’s interesting work describing the size, structure, and dynamics of Portland, Ore.’s athletic and outdoor cluster--firms that design, develop, manufacture, market, distribute, and sell apparel, footwea READ MORE >>

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One cool thing (among many) about the Global Metro Summit we are putting on in Chicago on December 8 with the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Soc READ MORE >>

More than a month after my trip to Italy, I keep thinking about one of the books I read there--Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, by Robert Putnam. A classic text of governance and civics, Putnam's study focuses on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy suddenly transferred the main responsibility for such activities as urban affairs, regional planning, public works, and economic development from a discredited and unpopular national government to a newly created set of elected regional governments. READ MORE >>

So Washington is speculating what comes next for energy policy. And of course, the hot topic is the location (if it exists) of common ground between President Obama and a Congress now controlled on the House side by Republicans and with increased seats in the Senate. READ MORE >>

American energy policy is at a standstill. READ MORE >>