Richard Florida is the pop economist people love to lionizeor hate. Three years ago, the George Mason University professor (then at Carnegie Mellon) wrote a book christening the creative class: an expansive group of architects, engineers, musicians, nurses and even lawyers who drive economic growth in today's knowledge economy. Attract those workers, and companies will follow, argued Florida. Some cities, like Detroit and Cleveland, Ohio, took the theory to heart. In other circles, Florida was written off as a quack. (Consider the subtext: tax breaks to lure business are passé.)
Now Florida is back, and if you thought eyebrows raised last...
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