This piece is an op-ed, not straight reporting. Tyler Cowen, its author, is a noted economist (with libertarian leanings), and he favors competition in many fo

This piece is an op-ed, not straight reporting. Tyler Cowen, its author, is a noted economist (with libertarian leanings), and he favors competition in many forms. Anyone curious about him and his views should read his blog Marginal Revolution and listen to his podcast. They're both smart: https://marginalrevolution.com/ https://marginalrevolution.com/ https://conversationswithtyler.com/ https://conversationswithtyler.com/ Tyler has written extensively about stagnation in the American economy. Part of that stagnation is the decreasing mobility of Americans. I very much agree with him that governments should compete for residents, especially the right kind of residents. It takes hard work to build a successful city. If we look at San Francisco, we see a city that has done everything it can to drive away many residents, and in so doing, destroyed its tax base, leading to a budget crisis. A great lesson in what not to do! Why should there not be a market for talent, where the towns and cities of America compete to make themselves more livable, better centers of serendipity, better providers of public services? That sounds great to me. In an earlier America, some cities took this mandate very seriously. For anyone curious, Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus tells the story of about the leaders of Dallas deliberately made it attractive to early residents in order to build their town. His biographical book is called "Minding the Store."