The New Republic

The reauthorization of America COMPETES--America’s signature innovation law--now in the Senate contains a few innovations in its own text, such as a regional industry cluster program. READ MORE >>

One of the more gratifying aspects of the growing embrace not just by the Obama administration but Congress of regional innovation strategies (including those supporting regional industry clusters) has been the increased recognition among rural thinkers and actors that such strategies are in no way exclusively “urban” or cosmopolitan or high-tech. READ MORE >>

America needs to transform its energy system. The Great Lakes region possesses what may be the nation’s richest complex of innovation strengths--research universities, national and corporate research labs, and top-flight science and engineering talent. Is there a deal to be done? There is. READ MORE >>

So as President Obama convenes senators for a come-to-Jesus moment this morning on energy and climate legislation it looks like Senate proponents of an economy-wide cap-and-trade climate bill are preparing to settle for a narrower emissions cap in the electric power sector. READ MORE >>

Where are the jobs? That question pervaded last week’s edition of the MetroMonitor index of recession and recovery and is becoming acute in the Intermountain West, where the companion Mountain Monitor reported that that employment actually fell slightly in the first quarter of 2010 in most of the region’s metros. READ MORE >>

One has only to look at the latest MetroMonitor to start getting seriously freaked out about the growing likelihood that the Senate won’t deliver READ MORE >>

Every year states spend millions on subsidies to stimulate business activity. However, in far too many cases too little is known about either the geography of these investments or their effectiveness. This is a problem because these interventions have a profound impact on metropolitan growth and development as they support a wide range of uses, from site preparation, infrastructure, and land acquisition to job-retention and the financing of industrial parks. READ MORE >>

Having passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 28th, the America COMPETES Act, America’s flagship competitiveness legislation, will soon be debated in the U.S. Senate. The Act was originally passed in 2007 in response to mounting concern that the United States was failing to effectively compete economically with other nations, imperiling the nation’s future prosperity.  READ MORE >>

Notwithstanding the nightmare of the spreading Gulf of Mexico oil spill, there was good news last week as sensible Washington folks headed to the beaches for the long weekend. READ MORE >>

The federal transportation finance system is broken and will be short on cash for the foreseeable future. Some regions—like the growing Phoenix, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, and Denver metropolitan areas—have meanwhile achieved system viability through unusual self-help yet even so face massive outstanding maintenance and capacity needs. Is there a deal to be done? Perhaps there is.  READ MORE >>