Nearly twenty years ago, Richard Florida famously identified the “creative class,” an amalgamation of knowledge workers and those in the arts, culture, and design fields. He established creativity as a basic economic force. Amid increasing inequality and unstable work arrangements, diminished techno-optimism, and the rise of global innovation hubs, he is still bullish on America’s capacity for invention. Florida argues for place-based economic development and skills-building up and down the socioeconomic ladder.