Optimist Economy Nobody's Pulling Up Stakes Anymore
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Apr 7, 2026 A deep look at why Americans move far less than they used to and what that means for regional inequality. Conversation about how migration affects wages, worker power, and the divide between booming and struggling cities. Exploration of barriers to moving like housing, information, and remote work. Discussion of concrete policy ideas to boost mobility and strengthen labor markets.
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Mobility Decline Signals Weak Job Opportunities
- Moving decisions rest on preferences, economic opportunity, and net costs, and the decline in moves signals weaker job opportunities rather than just preferences.
- Catherine Edwards argues reduced job opportunities hurt wages, growth, and innovation by shrinking labor-market mobility.
Spatial Equilibrium Explains Regional Wage Gaps
- Spatial equilibrium theory expects wages to equalize across locations as people move to higher-paying areas, but real-world amenities, families, and costs complicate that outcome.
- Economists study why identical jobs pay differently across places and why people don't always move to capture higher pay.
Job Shocks Now Cause Dropout Not Relocation
- When major local employers shut, moving to other labor markets is a key adjustment that historically reallocated workers, but today many displaced workers exit the labor force instead.
- Edwards uses Janesville GM plant closures to show displacement often led to dropout, disability claims, or family reliance rather than relocation.