The Smartest Places on Earth: Why Rustbelts are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation

摘要

Is the Western manufacturing industry on its last legs? Is industrial production all being moved to low-income countries? What about Donald Trump's idea of 're-shoring', that is returning industrial production to the United States? According to Van Agtmael and Bakker, authors of The Smartest Places on Earth: Why Rustbelts are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation, re-shoring is not the way to deal with the decline of industrial areas. They see another strong development that can return the competitive advantage to Europe and the United States - in fact, the authors speak of an 'industrial renaissance': an age in which smart development and smart production will win out against simply producing goods as cheaply as possible. Interestingly, the authors see the Western world as the most natural place for this smart production. To achieve this, however, cooperation in which knowledge and expertise are shared in a climate of trust is essential. The authors come to their conclusion after having visited ten global innovation hotspots, from Portland to Oulu.