Jim Russell

Communities that rely on talent imports skimp on investing in schools, capping the upward mobility of native residents.

What explains the differences between Pittsburgh and Asheville, both of which posted similarly strong gains in BA attainment rate over the same period?

For a few Rust Belt metropolitan areas anyway.

Policies aimed at unleashing supply in order to make housing more affordable are relying on outdated models.

Innovation is not a product of population density, but of something else entirely.

It may be hard to see unless you shift your focus from places to people, but both destination and source can benefit from "brain drain."

Many universities, as a matter of mission statement, provide a path to the global labor market. They're training students to leave.

In your quest to find cheaper housing could you handicap your children's economic future?

Can a place face an existential threat?

Housing will be built where it is most profitable to do so, not where "demand" (in terms of number of households) is strongest.