Six Hundred Atlantic Podcast
The debut season of the podcast has six episodes and looks at geographic disparities in 21st century America. Check it out at this link. Here’s a quick look at what it covers:
Episode 1 – A House Divided
Does where you are born and live matter when it comes to educational opportunity? To how much money you’ll make? To how long you’ll live? The answer to all those questions is yes, and these regional disparities are only getting worse. Why this is happening, what can be done, and how do policymakers need to think differently?
Episode 2 – Superstars Rise, Others Stall
Rural areas are by no means the only places struggling in America, but there’s no denying their problems. Decades-long trends show despair is up in rural America and economic growth is down. Meanwhile, “superstar cities” are headed in exactly the opposite direction. These high-demand locales with high incomes offer a stark contrast to places in long decline and accent an urban-rural divide that policymakers say must be closed.
Episode 3 – Go West, No Longer
For decades, Americans took this famous advice: “Go West, young man!” But fewer are today. Interstate migration has been dropping for decades. People aren’t moving, even from bad economic situations or places with no future. The question is whether the unwillingness or inability of people to move is worsening regional economic and social divisions.
Episode 4 – Life, Death, and Your Address
Research shows that where people are from can be extremely important to their health, including how long they’ll live. But why? As economists try to make sense of this, some are exploring regional levels of things like hope, purpose, and happiness. They say these subjective feelings can be measured with hard data, and they have undeniable impacts on how long – and how well – people live.
Episode 5 – Time for Place?
The blunt truth is this: Many communities that were struggling economically decades ago are still struggling now. Existing policies simply aren’t working. Is it time to think about “place?” Economists traditionally have focused on policies aimed at improving an individual’s prospects, and they’ve been skeptical about policies that focus on helping particular places. But some say it’s time for a new way of thinking.
Episode 6 – Today, Tomorrow, and COVID-19 – A Conversation
This season of Six Hundred Atlantic focuses on growing regional gaps in variables such as income or health – trends that are decades in the making. Now, they’re being shaped by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Are cities in trouble? Are rural areas poised for a rebound? Urbanist Richard Florida and economist Edward Glaeser join Six Hundred Atlantic for a conversation about our post-pandemic future.
For more information, contact: Allison Chase at Allison.Chase@bos.frb.org