Now, he is paid by the owners of hundreds of holiday homes across the valley for this cheap gift from the Earth.

CNN: Can Iceland's geo-thermal power re-heat its economy?

So, Silicon Valley dwellers, with the cheap land and wide-open spaces of a generation ago long gone you tell us: why stick around?

FORBES: Silicon Valley: Why Do We Live Here Again?

At the risk of sounding like the nerd who cried wolf, I ask you to close your eyes and imagine what cheap technology and clever entrepreneurs around the world--not just in Silicon Valley--might do to your business model.

FORBES: Digital Rules

But many of them do choose to locate in the expensive city and pay the high wage, and as I point out in my book, expensive places like Silicon Valley employ a larger share of American workers in high value, export industries than do cheap places like Houston.

FORBES: The Great Density Debate

Thames Valley Police is to recruit an extra 250 volunteer officers, but has denied it is policing on the cheap in the face of government cuts.

BBC: Thames Valley Police to recruit 250 Special Constables