Posts Tagged ‘book review’
Writing in the New York Sun, Harvard’s Ed Glaeser reviews Harm de Blij’s new book,“The Power of Place (h/t: Mark Thoma):
But the flat world experienced by the globe-trotting management consultant is only the wealthiest and most air-conditioned sliver of the globe … Place is powerful indeed. People born in America or Europe are much more likely to end up wealthy and healthy than people born in the developing world. Life expectancy in Sweden and Japan is over 80, while life expectancy in Zimbabwe is under 45. The success of New York reflects the power of place to foment creativity and productivity by speeding the flow of ideas.
In his book, Mr. de Blij addresses some of the most fundamental questions in geography: Are differences across space man-made or nature’s handiwork? Is globalization homogenizing the world, and is that a good thing? Should political power be held by large nation states or devolved to smaller geographic units?