Last fall, I loaned my copy of Jane Jacobs' Cities and the Wealth of Nations: Principles of Economic Life to a friend. Recently, I commented to him that I kinda wanted it back, as I'd had a hankering to re-read it. He said, "Well, I'd actually kind of like to loan it to somebody else, because I really think she should read it, so maybe I should just buy a new copy for you."

Last night, he told me that, in fact, he already had re-loaned out my copy...and also bought three more to give as Christmas presents. So I suppose that's a pretty successful book loan. And, with my copy gone, maybe I'll take the opportunity to go find a hardcover edition on Amazon and upgrade. Aaaand, done. D, you owe me $10.

I would most certainly recommend this book, and its predecessor, The Economy of Cities, to any and all of you. Written 25 years ago (35 for EofCs, which is essentially the same book as The Rise of the Creative Class, but written a quarter-century earlier than Florida's book, and without the rock star sneer that Florida carries around), they provide a pretty compelling argument for why Michigan's undergoing what some are calling a "one-state recession". Jane's far less mystified by this phenomenon than many current observers, and, indeed, calls out Detroit/Michigan in both books as an example of economies going wrong. What can we do? Well, first, stop trying to protect the auto industry, and start diversifying. Single-economy city-regions will always eventually crash.