The Smartest Places on Earth:Why Rustbelts Are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation

For the past forty years, business forecasters have assumed the western manufacturing would be increasingly sidelined, while places like Japan or China would rely on increasingly streamlined operations to make products at unbeatable prices.   In this summary, the authors explain that the days of western manufacturing are really just beginning. They explain why hyper-energized hubs of research and leadership they call “brain-belts,” are using advanced methods and business ideas to re-write the rules.

For the past forty years, business forecasters have assumed the western manufacturing would be increasingly sidelined, while places like Japan or China would rely on increasingly streamlined operations to make products at unbeatable prices.  However, as Fred Bakker and Antoine van Agtmael explain in their new book The Smartest Places on Earth, the days of western manufacturing are really just beginning.  They explain why hyper-energized hubs of research and leadership they call “brain-belts,” are using advanced methods and business ideas to re-write the rules.

Where are these brain-belts?  What has made them so universally successful in both their economic and cultural roles?  What does it take to keep them thriving?  And, how should executives, entrepreneurs and investors evaluate the opportunities they create?  You’ll find the answers to these and other key questions in this summary.