TML
@masseconomics.bsky.social
Principal, http://masseconomics.com; co-founder, http://data-fab.org. Cities/inclusion/equality. Rooting for the underdog.
Reposted by TML
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn't really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
www.techdirt.com
July 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I've had this headline rattling around in my brain since January and I finally wrote it. Been hearing too many people in the startup world buying into the neoractionary nonsense that maybe a little light fascism is good for silicon valley. It's not. It's very, very bad.
Good article: We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1...
We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard.
The emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn’t tracking and consider where it’s heading next.
www.technologyreview.com
May 26, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Good article: We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1...
"Vietnam and Cambodia will now face punitive tariffs of 46 and 49 percent on exports to the American market. This is a profound shock since these sales account for around a third of their GDPs."
My take on the implications of Trump’s tariffs for developing countries www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/o...
Opinion | With Trump’s Tariffs, the Fate of Developing Countries Now Rests in Their Own Hands
For the billions of people who still live in poverty, the path to prosperity may look very different than it has since World War II.
www.nytimes.com
April 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
"Vietnam and Cambodia will now face punitive tariffs of 46 and 49 percent on exports to the American market. This is a profound shock since these sales account for around a third of their GDPs."
Forget Office Conversions. Cities Are Turning Old Hospitals Into Residential Housing. www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
Forget Office Conversions. Cities Are Turning Old Hospitals Into Residential Housing.
Ideal locations are typically on prime real estate near city infrastructure with built-in amenities.
www.wsj.com
February 18, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Forget Office Conversions. Cities Are Turning Old Hospitals Into Residential Housing. www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
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x
X has ~18m daily USA users. @bsky.app, ~1.5m.
Is it worth 20 MINS a day to proactively recruit and bring your friends, neighbors,relatives, businesses, anyone who is or could be a user, to @bsky.app?
If Bluesky ends up with more users than the others, you destabilize musk, zuck, trump.
X has ~18m daily USA users. @bsky.app, ~1.5m.
Is it worth 20 MINS a day to proactively recruit and bring your friends, neighbors,relatives, businesses, anyone who is or could be a user, to @bsky.app?
If Bluesky ends up with more users than the others, you destabilize musk, zuck, trump.
January 6, 2025 at 10:31 PM
"Detroit’s business-district transformation offers lessons to other cities that are struggling to revive their empty downtowns and avoid being sucked into a debilitating doom loop."
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
Reversing the Real-Estate Doom Loop Is Possible. Just Look at Detroit.
Barely a decade after it declared bankruptcy, the city is emerging as America’s most unlikely real-estate boomtown.
www.wsj.com
December 29, 2024 at 5:14 PM
"Detroit’s business-district transformation offers lessons to other cities that are struggling to revive their empty downtowns and avoid being sucked into a debilitating doom loop."
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
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A thread on my paper with @masseconomics.bsky.social published earlier this year in @edqjournal.bsky.social: "Beyond Local and Traded: Evidence for a Third Industry Market Area Type and Implications for Regional Economic Development" #urbanism #sociology #geog
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
December 9, 2024 at 6:25 PM
A thread on my paper with @masseconomics.bsky.social published earlier this year in @edqjournal.bsky.social: "Beyond Local and Traded: Evidence for a Third Industry Market Area Type and Implications for Regional Economic Development" #urbanism #sociology #geog
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
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For decades, planners, geographers, and economists have categorized industries by the geographic areas they serve. "Local" industries serve nearby customers. They include grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Local industries are present pretty much everywhere to some level.
December 9, 2024 at 6:27 PM
For decades, planners, geographers, and economists have categorized industries by the geographic areas they serve. "Local" industries serve nearby customers. They include grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. Local industries are present pretty much everywhere to some level.
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“Traded” industries, on the other hand, serve customers around the country or the globe: cars from Detroit, movies from Hollywood, pharmaceuticals from Boston.
December 9, 2024 at 6:30 PM
“Traded” industries, on the other hand, serve customers around the country or the globe: cars from Detroit, movies from Hollywood, pharmaceuticals from Boston.
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Because they serve global markets, traded industries tend to be spatially concentrated. This map of auto manufacturing, for example, shows how it has a major presence in about 10 US metros, a minor presence in 15 or so more, and no presence at all in most metros
December 9, 2024 at 6:32 PM
Because they serve global markets, traded industries tend to be spatially concentrated. This map of auto manufacturing, for example, shows how it has a major presence in about 10 US metros, a minor presence in 15 or so more, and no presence at all in most metros
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Local and traded industries play different roles in metropolitan economies: traded industries bring money into the metro from the outside, while local industries provide the bulk of employment.
December 9, 2024 at 6:33 PM
Local and traded industries play different roles in metropolitan economies: traded industries bring money into the metro from the outside, while local industries provide the bulk of employment.
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Because of this, economic development strategies often focus on attracting or developing traded industries. Here's an example from work @masseconomics.bsky.social did with the Memphis Chamber of Commerce
blog.memphischamber.com/cluster-grow...
blog.memphischamber.com/cluster-grow...
Cluster Growth Strategy Will Drive Regional Economic Development Efforts
Memphis will focus the bulk of its economic development recruitment efforts on agricultural and food technology (AgTech), Medical Devices and Logistics, Distribution and Manufacturing as part of an ef...
blog.memphischamber.com
December 9, 2024 at 6:35 PM
Because of this, economic development strategies often focus on attracting or developing traded industries. Here's an example from work @masseconomics.bsky.social did with the Memphis Chamber of Commerce
blog.memphischamber.com/cluster-grow...
blog.memphischamber.com/cluster-grow...
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In our paper, we show that the local-traded distinction isn’t exhaustive. Specifically, we identify a third type: “regional” industries, which are present in almost every metro--but are spatially concentrated *within* each metro.
December 9, 2024 at 6:36 PM
In our paper, we show that the local-traded distinction isn’t exhaustive. Specifically, we identify a third type: “regional” industries, which are present in almost every metro--but are spatially concentrated *within* each metro.
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For example, here are maps showing the spatial profile of Grocery Wholesalers, a regional industry. At the metro scale, wholesalers have a moderate presence pretty much everywhere. That makes sense--food distribution is a universal need
December 9, 2024 at 6:40 PM
For example, here are maps showing the spatial profile of Grocery Wholesalers, a regional industry. At the metro scale, wholesalers have a moderate presence pretty much everywhere. That makes sense--food distribution is a universal need
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But at the *county* level, you see much more spatial concentration: in most metros, grocery wholesalers are concentrated into 1-2 districts, from which they supply the whole metropolitan area
December 9, 2024 at 6:41 PM
But at the *county* level, you see much more spatial concentration: in most metros, grocery wholesalers are concentrated into 1-2 districts, from which they supply the whole metropolitan area
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Compare that to the maps for auto manufacturing above, or to these maps of grocery stores, a true local industry. At the metro level, Grocery Wholesalers look like local industries. But at the county level, they look like traded ones
December 9, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Compare that to the maps for auto manufacturing above, or to these maps of grocery stores, a true local industry. At the metro level, Grocery Wholesalers look like local industries. But at the county level, they look like traded ones
Reposted by TML
You see the same pattern across lots of industries: if you look simultaneously at metro and county-level Location Quotients, they fall into 3 main groups: high/high (Local industries), low/low (Traded), and high/low (Regional).
December 9, 2024 at 6:43 PM
You see the same pattern across lots of industries: if you look simultaneously at metro and county-level Location Quotients, they fall into 3 main groups: high/high (Local industries), low/low (Traded), and high/low (Regional).
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Quintessential regional industries are support activities for other businesses: facilities maintenance, logistics, printing services. Construction and some kinds of manufacturing (craft beer, for example) are also prominent.
December 9, 2024 at 6:45 PM
Quintessential regional industries are support activities for other businesses: facilities maintenance, logistics, printing services. Construction and some kinds of manufacturing (craft beer, for example) are also prominent.
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Regional industries are massive: they accounted for 30% of US employment in 2017--36 million jobs, almost twice as many as traded industries. And they’re growing fast: employment in regional industries grew by 21% from 2001 to 2021, compared to 12% in the rest of the economy
December 9, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Regional industries are massive: they accounted for 30% of US employment in 2017--36 million jobs, almost twice as many as traded industries. And they’re growing fast: employment in regional industries grew by 21% from 2001 to 2021, compared to 12% in the rest of the economy
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Moreover, jobs in regional industries pay well: average earnings were $70k, almost as high as traded industries and 75% more than local industries.
December 9, 2024 at 6:50 PM
Moreover, jobs in regional industries pay well: average earnings were $70k, almost as high as traded industries and 75% more than local industries.
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They're also important spaces for entrepreneurship: there are 3x as many privately held companies in regional industries as in traded ones, and average sales are 2x local industries
December 9, 2024 at 6:52 PM
They're also important spaces for entrepreneurship: there are 3x as many privately held companies in regional industries as in traded ones, and average sales are 2x local industries
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The combo of *more* jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities than traded industries, but *better* jobs than local industries, makes regional industries a sweet spot for widespread access to economic opportunity—something planners and policymakers can foster
thehubdetroit.com/d2d-program-...
thehubdetroit.com/d2d-program-...
D2D program targets $1 billion in Detroit-to-Detroit business spending - The Hub Detroit
Won’t you be my neighbor … and my business partner? That’s what the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) hopes to accomplish with its Detroit to Detroit, or D2D, buyers program. D2D helps small ...
thehubdetroit.com
December 9, 2024 at 6:55 PM
The combo of *more* jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities than traded industries, but *better* jobs than local industries, makes regional industries a sweet spot for widespread access to economic opportunity—something planners and policymakers can foster
thehubdetroit.com/d2d-program-...
thehubdetroit.com/d2d-program-...
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To dig deeper into regional industries, you can download our full categorization of NAICS 6-digit industries from my website robertmanduca.com/publications/
December 9, 2024 at 7:01 PM
To dig deeper into regional industries, you can download our full categorization of NAICS 6-digit industries from my website robertmanduca.com/publications/
Reposted by TML
An ungated version of the paper is online here: robertmanduca.com/projects/lrt...
robertmanduca.com
December 9, 2024 at 7:03 PM
An ungated version of the paper is online here: robertmanduca.com/projects/lrt...
Reposted by TML
detroit in the snow
December 12, 2024 at 8:14 PM
detroit in the snow