Each issue takes on a specific question about capital and place — how it flows, who captures the value, and what shapes the outcome.
Growth in population, output, and income are the BMI of a local economy: measures of size that say little about composition. Two places can post the same growth and same per capita income while one builds and retains value locally and the other’s equity, earnings, and decisions sit elsewhere. This essay introduces a lens to read a local economy the way a physician interprets a metabolic panel.
Communities evaluating data centers are asking whether they’re good or bad. That skips a more important question: what kind of capital investment are they? Large capital investments differ not just in size, but in whether they create local economic loops or simply pass through. This issue examines that distinction and what it means for how communities should structure deals, set expectations, and decide where to direct their attention.
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We know people have different amounts of time and different reasons for reading. Every issue is available at three levels of depth, from a five-minute summary to an interactive version of the brief you can ask questions of.