Creating more good jobs

IN MANY countries, innovation and good jobs have become increasingly concentrated in a few places. Some big cities have done well, but many regions feel left behind. In the United States, the United Kingdom, many countries in Europe, and increasingly in other parts of the world, how to address these disparities has become a crucial question.

At least since the 2008 global financial crisis, widespread frustration with stagnant economic prospects has fuelled increasingly dangerous forms of anger in developed countries. All too often, this has led to self-destructive economic policies such as Brexit or Donald Trump’s vow to round up and deport all unauthorised immigrants – a step that would immediately reduce the American workforce by about 5 per cent, and likely cause the overall US economy to contract by a similar amount.

But there is an entirely better way forward, as demonstrated by the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which overcame the US Senate’s filibuster rule (the de facto requirement of a three-fifths majority for all legislation) and passed by a vote of 64 to 33 (including 17 Republicans). The Act authorised a boost to federal support for research and science, aiming to support breakthroughs across a broad range of sectors. Crucially, it also proposed to spread this support around the country, aiming to create next-generation tech hubs.