Despite the drawbacks of a service-oriented approach to development, especially when it comes to providing decent jobs to large numbers of people, developing economies simply have fewer choices today than they used to. Governments that want to boost growth will therefore need to focus on different things. Where they once had reason to ensure that workers could move easily from farms to factories, they would now do better to pay attention to the human capital of future white-collar workers. Richard Baldwin of the IMD Business School says that large, well-functioning cities will also become more important, as services often depend on agglomeration. Getting the right services, especially those that can be sold abroad, is now a crucial condition for growth.
That’s the question we’re trying to answer here,” says fax lists Meenakshi Wadhwa, a scientist, to her college class, explaining that to answer that question, “we need to go back to Mars to collect rocks,” one student scribbles notes while another holds up an iPhone to snap a photo of the slides. In many ways, this lecture hall at Arizona State University (ASU) is like any other. A group of women sit attentively in the front row; the men are scattered in the back. But the hearing aids suggest just how unusual this classroom is.
Mirabella, a 20-story “college retirement community” on the ASU campus, is home to more than 300 retirees. When it opened in 2020, the senior living facility was nearly full, despite the pandemic. Most residents are enjoying themselves. They get a college membership, which allows them to attend the same classes and cultural events as students, but with the distinct advantage of not having to take exams. Golf buggies can shuttle them around the sprawling campus, although many are still quite fit for mountain biking.