What makes a regional economy vibrant and prosperous?

Ross DeVol, Director of Regional and Demographic Studies at the Milken Institute, offers a primer of his own on the factors that make a regional economy vibrant and prosperous.

"The factors that make a regional economy vibrant and
prosperous have been fundamentally altered in recent decades. In the old economics
of place, it was the accumulation of physical assets and infrastructure – access to water
transport, railways and raw materials, along with cheap labor and low taxes – that
largely drove economic success.

What we call the new economics of place is
driven by the ability to attract and expand science
and technology assets, and leverage them
for economic development. Thus, a region’s
economic performance is largely determined
by how effectively it uses its comparative
advantages – everything from
the presence of world-class universities
to recreational opportunities
to affordable housing –
to create and expand knowledge
assets and convert them into
economic value."

(How does Montana stack up? How are we utilizing our comparative advantages?- Russ)

View article:

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/poe.cfm?point=review