3/4 of higher ed-reliant metro areas suffered weaker ec growth from 2011 to 2023 than U.S. as a whole. New Brookings Metro The Brookings Institution analysis from Shriya Methkupally & I reinforces troubling story from Konrad Putzier Douglas Belkin Anthony DeBarros Tony Pipa Richard Florida

.EDA plan to re-run process for most recent 6 tech hubs wastes time but does signal Trump administration embrace of important program. Tech Hubs Program Fact Sheet commerce.gov/news/fact-shee… via U.S. Commerce Dept. Robert D. Atkinson Simon Johnson Aaron Zitner Matt Hourihan

U.S. needs a new High Speed Computing strategy if it wants to maintain innovation leadership, writes Jack Dongarra New funding, more training, and more partnerships are all essential theconversation.com/challenges-to-… Robert D. Atkinson Matt Hourihan

🚨There has been a massive surge in Generative AI/LLM tool use in 2025. An update to our paper "The Labor Market Effects of Generative AI" tracking LLM adoption using surveys (finding LLM use at work has increased ~30% to ~40% in 2025). Thread🧵along w other evidence of the surge

Tulsa has worked creatively on multiple fronts to diversify its oil & gas economy, including with a popular worker attraction program. Now economist Tim Bartik Upjohn Institute (not active on X) has taken a look and likes what he sees. Check it out. upjohn.org/research-highl… Tulsa Innovation Labs

Regional tech hubs across U.S. are losing talent as workers return to the coasts, with Austin, Texas, being one of the hardest hit Haven't re-run the numbers but this is an interesting story from Isabelle Bousquette wsj.com/articles/austi… via The Wall Street Journal Richard Florida Ross DeVol

Interesting stuff Brian Kelsey

Fascinating report from Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 looking at official registrations of AI models in China. Here you can see the breakdown by sector. Full report is free + open dataset: triviumchina.com/research/seeki…

To me the major question is whether adoption hurdles, organizational change, and such buy workers more time than @darioamodei forecasts until massive automation-relayed layoffs Thanks Jim VandeHei @MikeAllen and Dario for sounding warnings nxthompson sam manning

.Joel Dodge surfaces valuable ideas for leveraging the Defense Production Act as a tool to promote modern geographic resilience.

Clippy, a paperclip-shaped assistant in Microsoft Office 97, offered tips and shortcuts but was criticized as intrusive and discontinued after Office 2003.

AI inroads update: Danielle Abril asks, Will a slower economy accelerate AI workforce impacts, disruption? I add a few thoughts to a good speculative story. wapo.st/4kRgYxi

Universities are critical for filling innovation gaps in less dynamic, under-performing regions Important new research from MIT Sloan School of Management Fiona Murray and Mercedes Delgado notes key role of higher ed in struggling places mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-… Andrés Rodríguez-Pose Richard Florida

Bipartisan Bill to Foster Defense Tech Innovation Through Hubs Initiative executivegov.com/2025/06/defens…

I had a great conversation recently with the invaluable Gordon Hanson about regional economic divides, events like the China Shock, and what to do about such distress. Check the new podcast out Brookings Metro The Brookings Institution: brookings.edu/articles/how-c… Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

KKR Says More Deals Coming Around AI Power Needs bloomberg.com/news/videos/20…

Republicans and Democrats "live in fundamentally contrasting economies". Tej Parikh explains in the Financial Times how, with Trump’s base representing 86 % of the US’s total counties, but just 38 % of its GDP according to Mark Muro at The Brookings Institution linkedin.com/posts/detter-%…

"It's hard to AI-proof your job or career given so much uncertainty" about it. Great comment from Adam Clark Estes Peggy Miles in good story quoting Ethan Mollick and I on #AI infusion into work vox.com/technology/418…

Delighted to help Tej Parikh explain America's ec divides in Financial Times Notwithstanding culture wars Red and Blue America continue to represent "fundamentally contrasting economies" Andrés Rodríguez-Pose Robert Puentes The Brookings Institution EJ Dionne Aaron Zitner Gbenga Ajilore Jacob Hacker