Rural counties have always been poorer, and there is less private investment because the workforce tends to be less skilled and less well educated. Local ownership of mom-and-pop businesses, which were once the commercial lifeblood of rural towns, is disappearing. According to an analysis by the Economic Innovation Group, the effects of the recent recovery haven’t always trickled down to rural counties. Between 2010 to 2014, roughly two out of three of those counties lost jobs, compared to under one in five who lost jobs in the 1990s. So despite the actual public investment, Cramer reports, “many rural residents perceive that rural communities are the victims of economic injustice.”

By: Lee Drutman, Washington Monthly Magazine

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