Thread by @Noahpinion

I wrote a @bopinion post about my hometown: College Station, Texas.

College Station has a very successful growth model that should be an example for the Rust Belt.

Unless Trump screws it up.

bloomberg.com/view/articles/…

College Station's economy is doing GREAT.

Growing population, rising wages, low unemployment.

What has powered College Station's growth?

Texas A&M University.

The university is a seed crystal around which private economic activity grows.

But the university's growth, and its rise through the rankings, has depended upon international students (and international faculty and staff)!

Educating students from China, India, and elsewhere is an EXPORT INDUSTRY.

By trying to keep out international students, Trump is hurting my hometown's export industry.

College Station will probably be OK. The real victims of Trump's policies will be towns in the Rust Belt that could have followed the "College Station model".

I encourage you to check out @John_C_Austin's work on the subject.

bloomberg.com/view/articles/…

Meanwhile, @JamesFallows went around America and found many towns reviving themselves using something akin to the "College Station model":

bloomberg.com/view/articles/…

For the good of small cities across America, Trump should be encouraging smart international students and professors to come to American universities, instead of trying to keep them out.

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