What about the Creative Class? What Your Business and the American Workforce Need to Know About The Future of Globalization

By: Kellyann Davis
CEO BlackSand Research

In our thinking about globalization, let's take a moment to consider the works of Richard Florida and Tom Friedman. What they are trying to tell us about the future of globalization. If they [or at least one of them] turn out to be right, how can you exploit that knowledge? What should you be worried about?

Florida's research indicates that creative people tend to cluster in certain places, geographically speaking, that have certain characteristics such as abundant hiking trails and art museums. Great, so now you know where to go to find them, or join them. By the way, Florida seems to insinuate that if you don't join them, you're not creative, or you are but you can't keep up with a whole community of your ilk. Friedman's work [seemingly to the contrary] indicates that the world is getting flatter in the sense that anyone, anywhere can participate in the global economy, from purse makers in the Andes, to product innovators in Bangalore. Notice that both refer to geography when they display their data on how the world is changing and American opportunities shift to other parts of the world.

Richard and Tom seem to be engaging in a little "tough love." Both seem to be telling it like it is, and telling Americans what fate has in store for them and particularly for their children. If you're creative, you'll probably live on one of the coasts in a city like San Diego or Boston. If you don't get an education, a good one that continues throughout your life, you may just end up in a trailer, the American version of a mud hut.

From a business perspective the news about globalization is not bad at all, it means that there are new opportunities out there if you're willing to look for them. The flatter economy means that you can lower production costs by moving those less-efficient operations to low cost countries like China and India. And because creative groups tend to cluster together, it also means that you know where to find innovators regardless of where you're located.

Textile companies and automotive suppliers have moved much of their simple production to low cost countries, they had to in order to remain competitive. So have furniture makers, although many simply succumbed to market pressure and lost to businesses based in low-cost countries. That's the world getting flatter, many countries have low cost labor to offer, and are well on their way to offering high wage, high skill labor as well.

If you're an American worker, don't worry, America is still the most creative place on earth. Creative people and companies in cities like Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C continue to produce ideas that change the world. Now, we have some competition, and that may have the power to drive us even faster toward a better future.

Next time, we'll talk about the future, how things could change drastically by shifting away from a pertroleum based economy to an alternative like hydrogen.