| The sad thing is, there was a time in the 80's and 90's when Minneapolis really DID have a solid diverse economy. Corporate headquarters were located there for Honeywell, Medtronic, Pillsbury, Northwest Air (Republic Air, too, when they were still around, I think). They had a solid IT industry, too, Cray was headquartered there and a bunch of other computer industries whose names I can't recall...While Medtronic is still there and thriving, the others have merged or are undergoing tough times. It is good an example of the hollowing out of America as there is. Unfortunately, there are lots of other good examples, too. Phoenix, where I live is certainly no better in this regard, BTW....our schools are not as good, so maybe fewer people have the problem of being chronically underemployed. For them selling real estate is the pinnacle of what they could have accomplished, anyway.....although I do have my share of stories of special ed teachers and engineers quitting to become mortgage techs and real estate brokers. And we supposedly have a "good" economy in that we've got a lot of call center jobs here..... |
