Amsterdam has spent over $68 million to cultivate its creative class - knowlege, arts and cultural workers.
According to Der Spiegel, “Of Amsterdam’s 740,000 residents, 47.1 percent of those who are currently employed work in knowledge-intensive sectors… Eight thousand people work in the art business, and the creative services sector has created 9,000 new jobs — a third more than a decade before. Twelve-thousand people work full-time in the media sector, and a host of students serve as a talent reservoir.

In Richard Florida’s recent book “The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent,” he argues that if America continues to make it harder for some of the world’s most talented students and workers to come here, they’ll go to other countries that are pursuing them instead (more on Florida’s work can be found at www.creativeclass.com.

Chris Carmody / Carmody & Company
www.christophercarmody.com