In spite of strong job growth and promising statistics, large parts of America are not recovering economically. While household income surged more than five percent last year, many Americans have yet to experience the economic recovery firsthand.
The truth is huge areas of our country are in an economic morass. Never mind the last Great Recession, many of these places have been declining for quite some time. The last crisis was merely the nail in the coffin for these regional economies, many of which lie in the Rust Belt.
The recent upswing is real. While economic growth has been modest, the expansion is now in its eighth year. The economy has added millions of jobs and incomes increased last year for households on every rung of the economic ladder. The economic gains have been particularly strong for people who live in the nation’s large metropolitan areas and for those who have college degrees.
The Trump connection
Our economy has changed substantially in recent decades, and the trends have created wealth gaps. These new growing gaps are not just between the have and the have-nots, it also is between different regions. In sum, the economic fate of entire regions has been determined by their adaptation or failure to thrive in a post manufacturing world.
This explains why Donald Trump is enjoying unprecedented popularity in so many parts of the country. In many people’s minds, there is a case to be made that America is no longer as great as it once was. The new economy doesn’t work for millions of people, especially those in rural America and for those who aren’t college educated.
In our increasingly interconnected world, the political divide is a reflection of our economic divide. As regions become more divergent economically, we’ll see more populist politicians rise. All these politicos have to do is channel the discontent that is already very palpable in many corners of our country.
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