Reinventing Boston: 1640-2003

Glaeser, Edward

Reinventing Boston: 1640-2003

No 10166, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The three largest cities in colonial America remain at the core of three of America's largest metropolitan areas today. This paper asks how Boston has been able to survive despite repeated periods of crisis and decline. Boston has reinvented itself three times: in the early 19th century as the provider of seafaring human capital for a far flung maritime trading and fishing empire, in the late 19th century as a factory town built on immigrant labor and Brahmin capital, and finally in the late 20th century as a center of the information economy. In all three instances, human capital admittedly of radically different forms provided the secret to Boston's rebirth. The history of Boston suggests that a strong base of skilled workers is a more reliable source of long-run urban health.

JEL-codes: N9 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-ure
Note: DAE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published as Edward L. Glaeser, 2005. "Reinventing Boston: 1630--2003," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 119-153, April.

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