The New Geography of Jobs

By: Enrico Moretti

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

We're used to thinking of the US in opposing terms: red versus blue, haves versus have-nots. But today, there are three Americas. At one extreme are the brain hubs - cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Durham - with workers who are among the most productive, creative, and best-paid on the planet. At the other extreme are former manufacturing capitals that are rapidly losing jobs and residents. The rest of America could go either way.

For the past 30 years, the three Americas have been growing apart at an accelerating rate. This divergence is one the most important developments in the history of the US and is reshaping the very fabric of our society, affecting all aspects of our lives, from health and education to family stability and political engagement. But the winners and losers aren't necessarily who you'd expect.

Enrico Moretti's groundbreaking research shows that you don't have to be a scientist or an engineer to thrive in one of the brain hubs. Carpenters, taxi-drivers, teachers, nurses, and other local service jobs are created at a ratio of five-to-one in the brain hubs, raising salaries and standard of living for all. Dealing with this split - supporting growth in the hubs while arresting the decline elsewhere - is the challenge of the century, and The New Geography of Jobs lights the way.

©2012 Enrico Moretti (P)2018 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Moretti has written the most important book of the year, I can't recommend it enough. The Cal-Berkeley economic professor's book is extremely necessary for politicians and commentators alike.... Brilliant." (Forbes)

America needs to invest more in education

I vaguely thought I knew some of the causes for the subject of this book, but the detail the the author went into was fascinating and I found that I actually knew pretty little and it became immensely clear how important higher education is to the future of the American economy. This audiobook was fantastic!

Good food for thought

I enjoyed the idea that there are three Americas, not merely the two that we have all been conditioned to think of. Innovation hubs, spillover effects, competitive advantage - all great stuff!

Excellent Book!

I really enjoyed this book. The narrator did an outstanding job with the reading. This book really enlightened me on many things andissues that are very apparent in the world today. This is a must read for anyone interested in cultural and economic geography.

Highly Disappointed that there's no PDF

If I knew this wouldn't of came with a pdf, I would not have bought it.

Very interesting

This is a must listen or read for any one of working age or at he age of starting to enter the workforce...very pivotal perspectives on the ever changing demographics of ingenuity and it's integral part in resources in terms of employment... point blank and period get this vibration into your orb and analyze it's frequency against your trajectory...

Very insightful book.

I enjoyed listening to "the new geography of jobs". I found it insightful, well-researched and overall interesting. If you ever wanted to get a better understanding of the landscape of work as it relates to geography, why certain regions get most of the jobs while others don't, education impact to the landscape of jobs and other factors then, this is the book for you.

Big props to the narrator, Sean Pratt. His reading made listening to the book even more interesting as the content of the book itself.

Interesting read!

Had a fun time with this one, taking in perspectives on growth in cities in the US. Lots of data to back up, the author took a pretty thorough approach. The narrator had many unnecessary pauses and paced too slow, especially in the early part of the book.

Solid book and topic, a bit tough in audio form

As someone who is always looking for the next book on cities, urbanism, design or architecture, I was really excited to give this one a listen. The title of the book sums up the subject matter perfectly, and though I wouldn't say there is anything ground breaking, it does a really good job laying out recent changes in the economic geography of jobs.

However, this is a book that is much better suited to paper or tablet form. Also, though the book is only 7 years old, much has happened in that time, and the book could benefit from an update that takes into account some of the more recent trends (such as the escalation of housing unaffordability). It is still worth reading/listening to for anyone interested in cities, but keep those caveats in mind.

Maybe .. best to ... buy ... the book

The subject matter interests me though I'm fairly familiar with it already. Had to crank the speed to 2x because I could not bear the many ... many ... odd gaps as the... narrator seems to ... pause to .... think about how ... exactly... to best put ... what he'll say next. aargh! READ IT!

If the multiplier effect and other basic geographic-economic concepts are new it'll surely be illuminating. Anyway it's a interesting tour of the U.S. especially and the world, highlighting trends in employment, education, income, divorce, life expectancy, exercise, smoking and more with facts and analysis.

If you can get around the exhausting ... narration ... there is good reason to listen and learn about the strong forces for localization, in the age of globalization.

Excellent and Easy Lessons on Urban Economic Development

Enrico Moretti’s The New Geography of Jobs is an excellent overview of how certain locations prospered and others fall behind. This should be required reading for any urban leader. NIMBYs take heed, please.