The New Economy and the Modern South

The technological revolution of the late twentieth century conjures up images of California's Silicon Valley, NASDAQ stock traders on Wall Street, and techno-savvy hipsters in Seattle. States like Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia are frequently forgotten as hubs of high-tech industry and leading sponsors of the "New Economy" business ideals that transformed American life in the 1990s.

In The New Economy and the Modern South, Michael Dennis explores the result of the Sunbelt South's success in attracting both high-tech and manufacturing firms with promises of minimal taxes, anti-union policies, and a business-friendly attitude. Drawing from a close study of northern Virginia--a region that was a frontier battleground for many of the new management philosophies that emerged during the 1990s--Dennis provides compelling evidence that local communities can be as much a driving force for change in the worldwide marketplace as metropolitan areas or so-called global cities.