Much has been written and said about government needing to reinvent itself. I think it's more than that, and if reinvention reaches out to embrace changing what government does and the way it does it, then the two do intersect. This agenda really requires government to not think about producing everything, even if it provides resources. It's the same kind of thing that we've tried to do with the tax code for as long as we've had it, where you build in incentives for people to do certain things and not do others. We wouldn't have the rate of home ownership in the United States that we do if the tax code didn't reward you for doing it.
Incentives matter more than mandates.
They are more powerful than simple regulations. It seems to me that that is the kind of reinvention that would have the most impact on the health of regions. Sounds like a Jane Jacobs question. I think my response would be yes. A nation that evolves as a collection of prosperous, healthy and adaptive regions is probably a nation best positioned for 21st century success.