Dr. Graham Toft

Principal at GrowthEconomics Inc.

"In a contemporary society with such a global economy, we really are all over the place in terms of how people think of where to begin. But the way I begin is as follows: That we are in a very flexible, dynamic, global economy today. I call it the 'flex economy.' I don't call it a digital economy; I don't call it the high-tech economy. It's a ‘flex economy.’ And the things that are going to make a difference for any city are entrepreneurship, which we need to focus more on in Indianapolis, (and) what I call ‘learn-nastics,’ which is more than just going to school. It's more than just doing training programs. It's a whole culture about learning on the run, learning right through life. And it's about using discovery out of universities in a far more effective way. And these are things that I think every city is kind of struggling with. But we still have a ways to go to prioritize those. I agree, you know, we've got to worry about the things that come up from day to day, year to year, as you say, displaced workers. They may be adult learning, it may be learning for the old as they go back to work or whatever. But we've got to get back to the basics that the vitality of the U.S. economy depends on entrepreneurship and learning."