By Michael Nam
Enrico Moretti, professor of economics and author of The New Geography of Jobs, elaborated at the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity event on the diverging fortunes of cities based on attracting college-educated workers. Moretti makes the case that the policies and reputation of innovative cities attract the best talent and indirectly improve the prosperity of the rest of such communities.
Much like Rev. Jesse Jackson’s keynote speech later in the evening that recounted the economic benefits to the American South in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, Moretti’s talk was as much a warning as an education about what the lack of flexibility and diversity in approach to human capital could bring to both communities and businesses.
