America has lost millions of manufacturing jobs since 1980, which has been a serious economic blow to many U.S. metropolitan areas.

In response, metros have pursued an array of economic development strategies, some aimed at protecting or enhancing their manufacturing base, others at diversifying their local economies and attracting new kinds of industries, particularly service firms. 

Productive, innovative, competitive economies require smart and simple regulations to prosper. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 2014 Regulatory Climate Index compares and ranks the efficiency of local regulations that apply to small businesses in 10 cities across America.

The Administration is committed to fostering the development of a clean and energy-efficient economy; that is, a “green” economy. This means encouraging the development of green businesses and green products and services, which in turn will create “green jobs.”

On September 29, 2014, Professor Michael Porter delivered a keynote speech at Mapping the Midwest's Future, a conference held in Minneapolis and hosted by the University of Minnesota that officially launched the new U.S. Cluster Mapping tool. His presentation focused on U.S. competitiveness and cluster-based economic development, to reshape the approach to economic development in the U.S.

Five years after the financial crisis began in earnest with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the negative impact from a damaged banking system on the real economy continues to be felt. Continued stress in the global financial system provides the backdrop to high levels of unemployment, low levels of business borrowing, and unsustainable public finances in many countries. At the same time the impact of climate change increasingly challenges communities coping with a changing environment.

With 38,000 workers at more than 170 companies in 22 million square feet of buildings over 7,000 acres, Research Triangle Park is the largest research park in North America. And RTP isn’t just about its big corporate campuses—it has five buildings devoted to start-up ventures, and 60 percent of its companies have 20 employees or fewer. But today’s entrepreneurs, Mr. Geolas said in an interview, want more-inclusive settings where they can meet with one another, share ideas, find new workers, and just enjoy themselves.

This report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation suggests that the U.S. can boost its competitiveness by targeting the health of its traded sectors. Offering 50 federal policy recommendations for reviving traded sector establishments with examples including Boeing and Walmart, the report calls for a comprehensive strategy organized around the “4 Ts” (technology, tax, trade, and talent) to strengthen the ability of U.S. traded firms to compete in the global market.

Current economic realities have provided governors with a unique opportunity to assess their economic landscapes and change their approaches to economic development. This white paper and accompanying issue brief by the National Governors Association (NGA) focus on what states are doing—and what they can do—to make their economic development agencies more effective.

The state of South Carolina has for years relied on a low-cost economic strategy, but with the rise in outsourcing manufacturing to China, Mexico, and other low-cost based economies, South Carolina has since come to trail the national average in several measures of economic standing. The South Carolina Competitiveness Initiative outlines its strategic vision to build on the existing structures and clusters of the South Carolina economy, capitalizing on the strengths of the automotive, textile, chemical products, tourism, forest products, production technology, and power generation and

This paper evaluates the role of regional cluster composition in the economic performance of industries, clusters and regions. On the one hand, diminishing returns to specialization in a location can result in a convergence effect: the growth rate of an industry within a region may be declining in the level of activity of that industry.