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bronxiteforever

(9,287 posts)
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 09:41 AM Dec 2019

A Third of America's Economy Is Concentrated in Just 31 Counties

Bloomberg
By Andre Tartar and Reade Pickert
December 16, 2019, 5:00 AM

While America’s economy has grown for over a decade, that growth is increasingly concentrated in 1% of the nation’s counties.

Just 31 counties, or the top 1% by share, made up 32.3% of U.S. gross domestic product in 2018, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that included nearly 20 years of county-level GDP data. That's despite these counties only having 26.1% of employed Americans and 21.9% of the population last year. Their combined GDP share is also up from a recession low of 30.1% in 2009.

The nation’s economy is becoming increasingly concentrated in large cities and by the coasts—and less so in rural counties—spurring the question of whether rural areas will be increasingly left behind. The growing concentration of the country’s economic activity could impact a variety of things from infrastructure spending to labor mobility, but it’s unclear how rural areas will fare as their share of economic output continues to dwindle.

Looking at the largest counties by output, Los Angeles County, which has a GDP equivalent to Saudi Arabia, added $395.2 billion to total U.S. GDP from 2001 to 2018. New York County, home to Manhattan, added $340 billion...all 31 counties either included or were near major U.S. cities.


https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-us-gdp-concentration-counties/

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A Third of America's Economy Is Concentrated in Just 31 Counties (Original Post) bronxiteforever Dec 2019 OP
The bulk of the Gross Domestic Product of rural areas is Senators and Congressmen Xipe Totec Dec 2019 #1
So the economy is mostly only good where the filthy rich live. Farmer-Rick Dec 2019 #2
Although to be fair, this is a problem common to many of the world's countries. sandensea Dec 2019 #3
I heard that on the radio this morning (WBZ). mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2019 #4

Farmer-Rick

(10,072 posts)
2. So the economy is mostly only good where the filthy rich live.
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 12:24 PM
Dec 2019

It's capitalism's feature to concentrate wealth in a handful of people, along with encouraging monopolies, crime, corruption and periodic economic crashes.

sandensea

(21,530 posts)
3. Although to be fair, this is a problem common to many of the world's countries.
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 07:18 PM
Dec 2019

It's common in many countries to have something like 30% of their population - and 40% of their economy - in just one metro area (typically around the capital).

Still, it's not what this country was supposed to look like.

Manhattan, on one hand:


The Texas Panhandle on the other:



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