August Reads

ON JEFF'S DESK

Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America's Metro Areas by Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor.  It's about the ways in which a select number of metro regions - not ours, sadly - have managed to link economic prosperity and social inclusion, and the importance of what Benner & Pastor call "dynamic knowledge communities" in doing so.  As they put it “our ability to grow together may be fundamentally rooted in our ability to know together.” It's inspiring me as I draft the Economy League's strategic plan.

ON NICK'S DESK

An Unlikely Group Of Billionaires And Politicians Has Created The Most Unbelievable Tax Break Ever by Steven Bertoni in Forbes. This is a well-written survey of what could shape up to be a powerful new tool for driving private investment in marginalized communities around the country, created through federal tax legislation passed late last year. It's worth keeping an eye on how infrastructure, capital, and people organize around the new Opportunity Zones tool in the months to come.