The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity
About this audiobook
A bold blueprint for how cities, work, and everyday life must transform to rebuild long-term prosperity after economic collapse.
From Richard Florida, author of the bestselling books The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?, comes a book that frames the economic meltdown of 2008–09 not as a crisis but as an opportunity to “reset.”
In doing so, he paints a fascinating picture of what our economy, society, and geography will look like—of how we will work and live—in the future.
Drawing on history, Florida traces how earlier crises—the Long Depression and the Great Depression—sparked new systems of infrastructure and new economic landscapes. Looking beyond short-term bailouts, the book examines why dense megaregions and talent hubs are poised to lead renewed growth while sprawling suburban developments falter.
- Economic Conditions: Contrasts the resilience of diversified centers like Washington, D.C. and Toronto against the steep collapse of debt-fueled real estate markets in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
- Urban Development: Outlines the economic necessity of high-speed rail networks to shrink travel times and integrate industrial centers across emerging megaregions.
- Public Policy: Proposes overhauling housing finance to encourage flexible rental communities while shifting transit priorities toward mass transit and congestion pricing.
- Macroeconomics: Explores how upgrading lower-wage service jobs into sources of continuous innovation and higher compensation can power a sustainable consumer recovery.
- Also by This Author: The Flight of the Creative Class.
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About the author
Author of the bestselling The Rise of the Creative Class and Who's Your City?, Richard Florida is a regular columnist for The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and other publications. His multiple awards and accolades include the Harvard Business Review’s Breakthrough Idea of the Year. He was named one of Esquire magazine’s Best and Brightest (2005) and one of BusinessWeek’s Voices of Innovation (2006). He lives in Toronto, Canada.
Eric Conger's stage credits include appearances Off-Broadway and at the Long Wharf Theater. He has appeared as a regular on Another World and Loving, and has translated the works of Feydeau.
