Demographics

Food, Ag Innovations Keep Springing from Flyover Country

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As the food industry followed American consumers into better-for-you eating, and Silicon Valley turned dietary consumption – like everything else – into a digital pursuit, the nation’s breadbasket lost relevance to the coasts.  read more »

Why American Jews Are Looking to Israel

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For much of the past century, America has dominated the Jewish world. It has been a semi-sacred ‘safe place’, where anti-Semitism only rarely impinged on the national political culture. Yet today, American Jews face levels of anti-Semitism not seen since the 1930s, with half saying they have observed anti-Semitic incidents over the past year.  read more »

China 2020 Census: Provincial Level Data and Context

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China added 70 million residents between 2010 and 2020, according to the seventh national population census, taken on November 1, 2020. This increase surprised some, such as the Financial Times, which had predicted a loss less than three weeks before the results were announced.  read more »

The Battle Between the Two Americas

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In recent history, the United States has arguably never been so divided — but not in the way you might think. Yes, the country has been split by the culture wars, with their polarising focus on race and gender. But behind the scenes, another conflict has been brewing; shaped by the economics of class, it has created two Americas increasingly in conflict.  read more »

Suburbs Are Not Less Social Than Cities

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Popular culture and academia alike are quick to celebrate the vibrant social life of urban spaces while lamenting the sprawling emptiness and privacy of rural and suburban America.  read more »

Social Class and the Columbus, Indiana Success Story

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I’ve written in the past about Columbus, Indiana and its patriarch, J. Irwin Miller. As I said in the Atlantic, Columbus is the Rust Belt city that never rusted. It’s basically the only small manufacturing city I know of in the Midwest that never went through a real decline period.  read more »

How Work Will Change Permanently After the Pandemic

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Last spring, the COVID-19 pandemic caused perhaps the worst job losses since the Great Depression. The decrease in the labor force participation rate — from 63.3% to 61.3% — has been steeper than that seen in the Great Recession  read more »

Winners and Losers: The Global Economy After COVID

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The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world economy in ways that will be debated by pundits and future historians for decades to come. Yet, as hard as it is to predict a disrupted future accurately, the pandemic (not to mention its probable successors) looks likely to produce clear economic winners and losers.  read more »

Hispanics and the Global Heartland

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The Heartland continues to experience an influx of Hispanic immigrant workers, as seen in the last decade. Hispanic populations increased more than three times as fast as the national population from 2010 to 2019 (19.2% compared to 6.1%).  read more »