Ryan Avent once more defends Richard Florida against Alec MacGillis's critique:
I don’t think MacGillis has grappled with the implications of his complaint that investing in prosperous hubs “exacerbat[es] the disequilibrium”. Investments in prosperous places yield high returns, providing governments with more resources to use in other ways. And no one is suggesting we abandon whole swathes of the country. I don’t think I could have been more explicit in saying that both countercyclical aid and adjustment assistance for struggling cities are justified. Investments in growing cities also help struggling areas by increasing the overall size of the national economy, and by creating more opporunities for migrants. And MacGillis needs to recognize that if you pour a ton of money into places that lack an underlying economic justification, you’re attracting a lot of people into cities that represent economic dead ends.
The Dish 