“I think one of the best examples we have is occurring outside Charlotte. I think people remember a few years ago the giant textile complex called Pillowtex closed, and when it did thousands of workers lost their jobs," says Dr. Walden, a professor of agricultural and resource economics. "And of course the textile industry had been a dominant industry in North Carolina throughout the 20th century, and now it has been downsizing in the last 30 years.

"Yet exactly on that same site –- the same site where Pillowtex once stood -– there is rising as we speak a new research complex devoted to biotechnology. The investment is going to be over a billion dollars, and this will ultimately, directly or indirectly employ thousands of workers.

"So I think this is a very good example of a new industry -- here, biotechnology -- in North Carolina replacing a very important historic industry, textiles, which has been downsizing. And I think it is an excellent example of what … economists term creative destructionism."