From Edward Glaeser:
But there was a crucial difference between Seattle and Detroit. Unlike Ford and General Motors, Boeing employed highly educated workers. Almost since its inception, Seattle has been committed to education and has benefited from the University of Washington, which is based there. Skills are the source of Seattle’s strength.Part of an ongoing series.
update: Note to self -- unlabelled sarcasm may be a bad idea in a blog.
As you're a professor, I'm rather astonished you've never heard of Wayne State University. It's located in downtown Detroit. 27,000 students, law school, medical school, engineering, etc. http://wayne.edu/academics/programs.php
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, while I am professor, Mark is a statistical consultant. Two bloggers, one blog.
ReplyDeleteThe University of Michigan is routinely ranked in the top 25 Universities in the world and is nearly identical in ranking to the University of Washington. That makes the argument especially silly.
But Wayne State University is a fine institution with some really strong programs. It further illustrates that a lack of strong universities (the the resulting skills) are not a plausible explanation for why Seattle and Detroit have had differential levels of growth.
I'm a U of M '07 alum. Most of my friends from Michigan are now either working for the University, or have moved out of state.
ReplyDelete