The Creative Class -- Rise or Ruse?

The January/February 2010 issue of The American Prospect magazine contains some interesting articles on the topic of "The Post Boom City".  Among the articles in this issue is an interesting critique by Alec MacGillis of Richard Florida's promotion of the concept of the "creative class".  The title of the MacGillis article is "The Ruse of the Creative Class", which is a bit of a word play based on the title of Professor Florida's most famous book, The Rise of the Creative Class (New York:  Basic Books, 2002).  Ryan Avent posted a critique of  the Alec MacGillis critique of Richard Floria on the Internet at Seeking Alpha (http://seekingalpha.com/article/180466-understanding-the-rise-and-fall-of-urban-economies?source=email).  Mr. Avent is an an economics writer living in Washington, DC.  He authors The Economist’s Free Exchange economics blog, as well as a bi-weekly column on urban economics and transportation issues for the environmental publication Grist. Alec MacGillis is National Political Reporter for the Washington Post.