Tempestade Cerebral

No Expresso, um artigo intitulado "Temos muito potencial" (meus destaques e links):

"Portugal tem potencial para triunfar na era da Economia Criativa. No relatório «Europe in the Creative Age», dos investigadores Richard Florida e Irene Tingali, agora publicado pelo «think-thank» britânico Demos, Portugal surge no terceiro lugar no «ranking» de 15 países (os EUA mais os Quinze, excepto Luxemburgo) sobre o potencial para desenvolver uma economia criativa.

Segundo Tingali e Florida, a capacidade para competir na economia global depende cada vez mais da capacidade que cada país tem para atrair, reter e desenvolver indivíduos criativos."

Hoje, por coincidência, já tinha lido - via Mises Economics Blog - uma crítica a esta "era da Economia Criativa" (meus destaques e link):

"Florida argues, cities must dispense with stuffy old theories of economic development—like the notion that low taxes are what draw in companies and workers—and instead must spend heavily on cultural amenities and pursue progressive social legislation.

A generation of leftish policy-makers and urban planners is rushing to implement Florida’s vision, while an admiring host of uncritical journalists touts it. But there is just one problem: the basic economics behind his ideas don’t work.

Florida’s ten most creative mid-sized cities are even less impressive economic engines. Since 1993, these cities, which include such underperformers as Albany, New York, and Dayton, Ohio, have increased their job totals by about 16 percent—less than the national average.

(...) according to one recent independent study of entrepreneurship in America, Florida’s most creative cities are no more likely to be powerful incubators of fast-growing businesses than those at the bottom of his rankings.

It’s no coincidence that some of Florida’s urban exemplars perform so unimpressively on these basic measures of growth. As Florida tells us repeatedly, these cities spend money on cultural amenities and other frills, paid for by high taxes, while restricting growth through heavy regulation. Despite Florida’s notion of a new order in economic development, the data make crystal-clear that such policies aren’t people - or business-friendly.

(...) there is little evidence that people or businesses set much store on what Florida is prescribing. A Money magazine poll rating dozens of factors that people consider in choosing a place to live found that the top ten reasons fell into two broad categories: low costs (including low property and sales taxes) and basic quality-of-life issues (good schools, low crime, clean air and water). By contrast, such Florida-esque issues as diversity ranked 22nd on the list, while cultural amenities like theaters and museums ranked 27th and lower, and outdoor activities even lower."

Ainda há certos "intelectuais" que continuam a tentar planear o rumo da economia. Com os nossos impostos...