It has been a familiar story of decline in Europe and North America: former industrial areas unable to keep up with global competition, devastated by enormous losses in manufacturing jobs. In a new book, Antoine Van Agtmael - the man who coined the term ‘emerging markets’ – challenges this received wisdom. He tells Manuela Saragosa how places like places like Akron, Ohio and Albany in the United States and Eindhoven and Dresden in Europe are using deep industry expertise, world-class research institutions and a sense of urgency from having hit rock bottom in decades past, to turn their fortunes around. Could the next 'emerging economy' in fact be the West? They are joined by author, commentator and former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, Gucharan Das and urban economist from Harvard University, Edward Glaeser.



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