In the final weeks of 1981, lawyers for the federal government and for AT&T, the largest corporation in the world, negotiated the break up of the historic Bell System. One major premise guided the lawyers for the government. The telecommunications industry was ready for competition, especially in the markets for equipment, long distance, and information [...]

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Most New Pioneers have a divided identity. Tonight, after landing at San Francisco International Airport, I rented a car and drove north. Coming round the northbound turn on 101, the skyline of the illuminated city bloomed out of the night. Memories of childhood and the years we spent on the oceanside of the [...]

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RAPID CITY, SD – Adam B. grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota. Today, he’s a senior at Black Hills State University in Spearfish forty miles away. After visiting with friends or hitting the books, when it’s time to go to work to pay the bills, Adam doesn’t go far. He sits down at the [...]

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Last fall the head of economic development in Mitchell, South Dakota admitted to me that most of his peers were still “chasing semis down the Interstate.” Semis meant somebody somewhere was making something that had to be shipped, and those were the kinds of jobs that city officials wanted. But in some towns there is [...]

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