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- An Introduction to Open Source Economic Development
- Changes in our economy hit home
- Moving from a First Curve to a Second Curve economy
- The Urgency of Open Innovation
- New, Networked Approaches to Economic Development
- Building an open civic process: Strategic doing
- The emerging role of the civic leader
- The importance of mapping our networks
- Mapping and aligning Second Curve networks
- Open Source Economic Development: A Glossary
Changes in our economy hit home
If this all sounds a little at abstract, it should not. For example, in rural counties, the shifting dynamics of global competition mean that old strategies of business recruitment will not be as successful in the future as they may have been in the past. At the same time, our rural communities have new and unprecedented opportunities. Renewable energy, innovative manufacturing, and cultural tourism provide opportunities to create wealth among even our smallest communities.
Like other living organisms, economies and markets go through cycles of rapid growth, maturity and decline. We experienced dramatic growth during the early decades of the Industrial Age one hundred years ago. During this period of rapid growth, entrepreneurs from across the country planted seeds. Many of the seeds withered, but some took root. The successful ones grew into large and prosperous companies that built our communities with high income jobs and deep wellsprings of philanthropy.
Our strong industrial growth continued in the years after World War II, but the economic climate began shifting. By the early 1960s, we started seeing shifts within the country as Northern states -- where industrial growth initially took root -- faced stiff competition from Southern states. The South emerged from World War II with a new economic dynamism. The growth of the Interstate highway system made it easier for manufacturing plants to move from the North to the South.
Beginning in the 1970s, we faced another dynamic. New competition sprung from abroad, principally from Japan. In the 1970s, large industrial corporations faced stiff competition, as Japanese companies began moving into US markets. We commonly refer to these changes in the global economy as “globalization.” We are really talking about the integration of global markets. Changes in trade law, new efficiencies in logistics, and dramatic improvements in communications have driven this integration.
