Crossposted on New Geography With gas prices beginning their summer spike to what could be record   highs, President Obama in recent days has gone out of his way to sound   reassuring on energy, seeming to approve an oil pipeline to Oklahoma   this week after earlier approving leases for drilling in Alaska. Yet few in the […]

Crossposted on New Majority President Obama’s San Francisco   fundraiser with the tech elites today, along with the upcoming IPO for   Facebook, marks the emergence of a new, potentially dominant political   force well on its way to surpassing Hollywood and even Wall Street as the business bulwark of the Obama Democratic Party. In 2008 the industry […]

Crossposted on New Geography The announcements by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) that they would not run for reelection reflects what may be the last gasps of the Great Plains Democrats, much as California’s 2010 Democratic landslide assured that Republicans are soon to become endangered species in places like Los Angeles and […]

Crossposted New Geography Mitt Romney’s collapse in South Carolina reflects the larger, long-term decline of the American patrician class  he represents. That decline was accelerated by the 2008 financial   meltdown that resulted in both the wave of populist anger now being   channeled by Romney’s Republican competitors, and the rise of the new   post-industrial elite championed by […]

Crossppsted on New Geography America has two basic economies, and the division increasingly   defines its politics. One, concentrated on the coasts and in college   towns, focuses on the business of images, digits and transactions. The   other, located largely in the southeast, Texas and the Heartland, makes   its living in more traditional industries, from agriculture and […]

Crossposted on New Geography Wall Street is   disdained in the court of public opinion — detested by the tea party on   the right and the Occupy movement on the left. The public blames   financial plutocrats for America’s economic plight more than either   President Barack Obama or former President George W. Bush. Less than a   quarter […]

Crossposted at newgeography During tough economic times, technology is often seen as the one bright spot. In the U.S. this past year technology jobs outpaced the overall rate of new employment nearly four times. But if you’re looking for a tech job, you may want to consider searching outside of Silicon Valley. Though the Valley […]

Crossposted on New Geography Over the past decade Los Angeles has steadily declined. It currently has one of the highest unemployment rates (roughly 12.5%) in the U.S, and there’s little sign of a sustained recovery. The city and county have become a kind of purgatory for all but the most politically connected businesses, while job […]

Crossposted at newgeography Among the world’s major advanced countries, the United States remains a demographic outlier, with a comparatively youthful and growing population. This provides an unusual opportunity for America’s resurgence over the next several decades, as population growth elsewhere slows dramatically, and even declines dramatically, in a host of important countries. This demographic vitality, […]