http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/10/22-metro-freight-tomer-kane-puentes
By Adie Tomer, Joseph Kane, and Robert Puentes
The Metro Freight research series assesses goods trade at the
metropolitan scale. It uses a unique and comprehensive database to
capture all the goods moving in and out of U.S. metropolitan areas, both
domestically and beyond. The reports in the series will describe which
goods move between metropolitan areas, how they move via different modes
of transportation, and uncover the specific trading relationships
between U.S. metropolitan areas as well as their global counterparts.
This primer establishes the economic rationale for metropolitan goods
trade, describing why, how, and what these areas exchange with each
other. One of the lessons from the Great Recession is the need to grow
and support the tradable sectors, typically manufacturing and high-end
services, of our metropolitan economies. But to drive these tradable
sectors, metropolitan areas need physical access to markets.
Metropolitan freight connectivity enables this access and the ensuing
modern global value chains. Without it, trade cannot occur.
The trading of physical goods is a major component of the U.S.
economy. In 2010, the United States moved more than $3 trillion in goods
internationally or nearly $8.8 billion, on average, each day. However,
an exclusive focus on national trade fails to recognize the extreme
regional variety in production, consumption, and goods exchange. This
discussion paper marks the first time metropolitan areas can begin to
explore their place in domestic and global goods trade networks by
tracking which regions generate the most international trade and the
level of trade within the much larger domestic marketplace.
Download Individual Metro Profiles (Go to the website to download the metro profiles.)
