The South's Economy Is Falling Behind: 'All of a Sudden the Money Stops Flowing'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

NATCHEZ, Miss.—The American South spent much of the past century trying to overcome its position as the country’s poorest and least-developed region, with considerable success: By the 2009 recession it had nearly caught up economically with its northern and western neighbors.

That trend has now reversed. Since 2009, the South’s convergence has turned to divergence, as the region recorded the country’s slowest growth in output and wages, the lowest labor-force participation rate and the highest unemployment rate.

Behind the reversal: The policies that drove the region’s catch-up—relatively low taxes and low wages that attracted factories and blue-collar jobs—have proven inadequate in an expanding economy where the forces of globalization favor cities with concentrations of capital and educated workers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-souths-economy-is-falling-behind-all-of-a-sudden-the-money-stops-flowing/ar-AACCJu6?li=BBnbfcN

We don't need none of that fancy pants learnin'.

[Afromania]

1. Obama tried to to tell them that the future would require at least a little bit of retraining.

They soundly rejected it and the right began pushing the "you don't need an education" to be successful". In some cases you don't, but those that don't typically don't are pretty on the ball to begin with. For the rest, or a majority of us, it's a handy ladder grasp. We had an administration that was that and there were initiatives put in place for folks going back to college/retraining.

Between the financial aid awards being raised and the American Opportunity tax credit it was almost like getting paid little bit to attend. I don't think it would have singly changed their economic fortunes but it would have allowed them a chance at the industries that require a more educated population base.

[Yavin4]

2. Also, passing laws restricting women's health plays a big role as well.

See, when 50% of your population is treated like 2nd class citizens, they tend to move elsewhere and take their talents with them. Same holds for the LGBTQ community as well.

[DFW]

3. They should have learned from Nokia and its Romanian adventure

Nokia had a huge factory near where I live in the German city of Bochum. But then they decided to take advantage of the lower wages and taxes in Romania (by then also European Union), shut down the German factory, fired 4000 workers, and moved the whole operation to Romania. OOPS. They then got their phones built by people with Romanian education and Romanian work ethic. Fully ONE THIRD of the phones produced in their new Romanian facility did not function. So they closed that operation, too, and moved to China.

BMW has a huge manufacturing facility in South Carolina. Mercedes has a huge operation in Alabama. If either of those operations should turn into something either company feels is not worth maintaining (or whose local German manager's family might have a woman in need of an abortion, for example), both states would be looking at staggering losses. I guess if some megachurch pastor takes the Governor for a spin in his private jet, all will be forgiven...........

[Farmer-Rick]

4. Is it a Wall Street Urinal article? It's kind of hard to tell....

It's like they are trying to hide that it is the WSJ or something.

But I appreciate the posting. The article itself is NOT wrong even though they get to the point in a round about way.

But really this by itself is just plain gobbledygook:

"The policies that drove the region’s catch-up—relatively low taxes and low wages that attracted factories and blue-collar jobs—have proven inadequate in an expanding economy where the forces of globalization favor cities with concentrations of capital and educated workers."

Either low taxes and low wages work or they don't. The truth is they do work to attract low wage jobs in manufacturing...for awhile. A corporation making huge profits off of cheap labor will soon find lower wage areas and move on. As the remaining businesses become a little richer, wages rise and taxes are needed to make infrastructure improvements to keep up with business. But there are few to no taxes being paid by low wages workers and low tax industry. So the remaining businesses leave too and it just falls back to where it was. You have to keep investing and taxing to make a functioning economic system. Since the South didn't do that, industry moves off to other cheap labor areas or to more affluent locations that have the infrastructure to provide the needed services.

So the bottom line is low taxes and low wages only work temporarily.

The article eventually says that but in a round about way.

When the crash hit my rural southern area, the textile industry had already moved on to India and China. The furniture and parts factories went next. What remained were chemical and fertilizer factories. Eventually they left too, though a few of the more odoriferous ones remained. What was a once booming corridor of industry is now overgrown fields dotted with disintegrating buildings. But it's peaceful.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. The Southern strategy working at its finest.

Someone please dig up Spiro Agnew and ask him how this was supposed to work out.

For a refresher, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy

I can't read that entire article because I watched it all happen starting in the 60s and it still makes me ill......

Anti-tax Rethug governors and legislatures have created wage and health care slavery in all red states.

[llmart]

6. It wasn't just the low wages and low taxes that lured them South.

It was the anti-union environment that was most attractive to companies.

[doc03]

7. With manufacturing killed along with unions

in the north there is no reason for employers to move south. We are on race to the bottom. When workers in China or Mexico catch up with us, big money will develops Africa.
Remember when everyone was moving jobs to Japan?

[TeamPooka]

8. and now the South fights for Confederate statues, transgender bathroom bills and restricting women's

rights by gaming the abortion issue.
Purging people or color from the voting rolls and restri8cting voting rights
all of it.
If you have a modern business to grow and investments to make the South is not the place for you or your employees.

[Politicub]

9. Is there any wonder why? Large companies will not come to the south because

of retrograde social views and anti-choice bullshit.

And the right doesn't care. Right wing politicians will continue collecting a paycheck no matter how impoverished their constituents happen to be.

Georgia was building a sustainable film industry ecosystem. The abortion bill popped that balloon, and I believe the state reach a high point with film jobs.

Sigh. It's a tragedy that Atlanta is held hostage by an army of mini-McConnells from dying small towns in the state.