The Great Reset

How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity

By: Richard Florida

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

We tend to view prolonged economic downturns, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Long Depression of the late 19th century, in terms of the crisis and pain they cause. But history teaches us that these great crises also represent opportunities to remake our economy and society and to generate whole new eras of economic growth and prosperity.

In terms of innovation, invention, and energetic risk taking, these periods of "creative destruction" have been some of the most fertile in history, and the changes they put into motion can set the stage for full-scale recovery.

In The Great Reset, best-selling author and economic development expert Richard Florida provides an engaging and sweeping examination of these previous economic epochs, or "resets." He distills the deep forces that have altered physical and social landscapes and eventually reshaped economies and societies. Looking toward the future, Florida identifies the patterns that will drive the next Great Reset and transform virtually every aspect of our lives - from how and where we live, to how we work, to how we invest in individuals and infrastructure, to how we shape our cities and regions. Florida shows how these forces, when combined, will spur a fresh era of growth and prosperity, define a new geography of progress, and create surprising opportunities for all of us. Among these forces will be"

• New patterns of consumption, and new attitudes toward ownership that are less centered on houses and cars
• The transformation of millions of service jobs into middle-class careers that engage workers as a source of innovation
• New forms of infrastructure that speed the movement of people, goods, and ideas
• A radically altered and much denser economic landscape organized around "megaregions" that will drive the development of new industries, new jobs, and a whole new way of life

We've weathered tough times before. They are a necessary part of economic cycles, giving us a chance to clearly see what's working and what's not. Societies can be reborn in such crises, emerging fresh, strong, and refocused. Now is our opportunity to anticipate what that brighter future will look like and to take the steps that will get us there faster.

With his trademark blend of wit, irreverence, and rigorous research and analysis, Florida presents an optimistic and counterintuitive vision of our future, calling into question long-held beliefs about the nature of economic progress and forcing us to reassess our very way of life. He argues convincingly that it's time to turn our efforts - as individuals, as governments, and as a society - to putting the necessary pieces in place for a vibrant, prosperous future.

©2010 Richard Florida (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

“ The Great Reset shows how new technology and the new geographies of living and working come together to drive recovery….must reading for anyone who wants to understand where we are now and where we are headed.” (Chris Anderson, editor, Wired magazine )

“This timely and thought-provoking book gives us important insights into the reshaping of America’s economic and physical landscape.” (Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University )

Interesting look at the outcomes of market shifts

What happens to our cities and lives before and after periods of large economic growth and stagnation? That’s exactly what this book tries to answer. That answer, as you’ll come to find out in this one, is that the ways by which we live, work, and travel often change drastically around such “resetting” periods.

This book mostly looks into the past; it dissects previous bull and bear economies to suggest how past economic resets have radically changed our ways of life. It’s a bit of a connect-the-dots type work in the sense that it shows how we moved from a farming-centric economy to a manufacturing one, and, later, to a services-based one. The connecting of those dots is interesting, and they’re the core concept of the book.

At the end of the work, the author looks forward and asks, “How will future economic resets change our country once more?” Moreover, he looks into various technologies we can take advantage of to ensure that we’re well-prepared for the next great reset. Overall, it’s fairly interesting. If you’re into economics or market forces, I would recommend it.

-Brian Sachetta
Author of “Get Out of Your Head”

Florida Fan

In Florida's new book, The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity, places like Phoenix represent much of what has gone wrong with the American economy and social arrangements over the past 40 years. Florida argues that we need to move away from the model of low-density, car based, and spread out suburbs that Phoenix embodies. This model, according to Florida, is both unsustainable (for environmental and economic reasons), and undesirable to the emerging "creative class" of workers.

The great recession has refocused people's priorities away from owning the ever-larger home and the ever-bigger SUV towards a desire for economic agility and embeddedness in thick social/economic networks. This agility and embeddedness is best achieved in walkable cities and close-in (first ring) suburbs, ones served by mass transit and characterized by high proportions of educated knowledge workers. People want to rent rather than own, take high-speed rail and zip cars as opposed to garaging the big SUV, and be free to spend their energy on resources on human capital enhancing actives such as education, creative work, and the arts.

If you wont be engulfed by the future.

if you want to understand how to create a brilluant and prosperous future. you must read it.

A General Look at the Financial Crisis

Florida provides us a simple introduction to aspects of the current finaicial crisis in "The Great Reset." Nonetheless, this book is thought provoking and provides a framework from which one can view this situation in context. Essentially, Florida posits that the economy has been through "resets" before and this is another natural, structural occurance which we will survive.

The good news is that Florida provides insights into what we must do to benefit most from the current "reset." The bad news is that the reader is introduced only to generalities related to the remedial action which will benefit individuals and communities. This comment should not keep one from taking time for this book. Thoughtful individuals (experts and non) can fill in the blanks with their own thinking and further reading.

The reading is great, the thoughtful presentation of research is informative, and Eric Conger does a great job with the naration. Enjoy

An Optimistic Take on the Subprime Bubble

I’ve read about half of Florida’s books and think this one is the best.

The core argument is that the financial troubles that culminated in the bursting of the subprime bubble is not about normal economic cycles nor about a great shock to the system, rather it represent a multi-generational shift in the structure of work and free time. His explanation for the cause of these multi-generational resets is very similar to Clayton Christenson’s explanation for the “disruptive transitions in technology”. Specifically, that each era is fueled by a core innovation that drives growth in productivity and that in time the productivity growth outstrips responsible growth in consumption. The resulting “bubble” then is not really a bubble; it’s not a collapse back to the previous norms. Rather a reset ushers in the next wave of growth, in which productivity is refocused in some new direction.

If we call the current financial event “The Great Recession” (see Reich), then according to Florida the long depression (1873 to 1896) reset from a nation of farmers to a nation of mill works and machinist, the great depression (1929 to 1939) reset from a nation of factory towns to a nation suburban company men, and the great recession (2008 to 2014) will reset from a nation of suburban company men to … well something new …

This is point where the book is a little less than clear. I think, he thinks we are resetting to a nation of creative designers, who will work in small firms and live in hip city centers (and perhaps exotic wilderness communities), but he stops short of being so bold as to say so.

Clearly if he’s right there is a fortune to be made in understanding the reset before the understanding is mainstream idea. I kept waiting for the stock tip, but it never comes. I suspect he’s “dead sure” that this is a reset (not a normal bubble) that ushers in a new period of hyper-prosperity, but he’s only vaguely sure what the new era will look like.

Another Winner from Richard Florida

I'm familiar with the writings of Richard Florida and often recommend his book "The Rise of the Creative Class." The hallmark of his work is thorough research and an interpretation of the data that makes sense to a non-academic. Statistics are interwoven with personal stories, recent examples, the writings, research and reporting of others, and chapters that move in a logical progression. I thought this recording was well done by Eric Conger and would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to understand more clearly where we are now and what we need to consider as we look toward a future of great change.

are you ready for the next great reset

loved it...we need to focus on the future and the new wave of jobs that will propel us there thanks for the insights

Interesting way to put this recession in context

What made the experience of listening to The Great Reset the most enjoyable?

The relevance of this book to what is happening to the American economy makes this read engaging from start to finish.

Longer then it needed to be

This author seems to like to listen to himself. He describes early resets as just science contributing to technology but doesn’t like to give much credit to capitalization. He likes to quote Marxist often, which is a bit of a put off.

2030, you will own nothing.

Feels like the book was funded by Klaus Schwab and the WEF mafia he inherited.