Thursday, November 6, 2008

The Triumph Of The Creative Class

Forbes.com Commentary by Joel Kotkin

Barack Obama rode to his resounding victory on the enthusiasm of two constituencies, the young and African Americans, whose support has driven his candidacy since the spring. Yet arguably the biggest winners of the Nov. 4 vote are located at the highest levels of the nation's ascendant post-industrial business community.

Obama's triumph reflects a decisive shift in the economic center of gravity away from military contractors, manufacturers, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, suburban real estate developers, energy companies, old-line remnants on Wall Street and other traditional backers of the GOP. In their place, we can see the rise of a different set of players, predominately drawn from the so-called "creative class" of Silicon Valley, Hollywood and the younger, go-go set in the financial world.

These latter business interests provided much of the consistent and massive financial advantage that the Illinois senator has accrued since early spring. The term "creative class" was popularized by former George Mason professor Richard Florida, who used it to describe those with both brainy business acumen and a very liberal cultural agenda borrowed from the bohemians of the '60s. Read more at Forbes...

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