New report highlights a diverse, dynamic Middle America economy In the heat of election season, conversations about the U.S. ?heartland? often revolve around red and blue: How will voters from the region?itself a nebulous, non-homogeneous collection of states?react to economic and social shifts, and how will their votes impact the rest of the country"
But a new report, State of the Heartland: Factbook 2018, released by The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and the Walton Family Foundation, ignores questions of red versus blue, instead characterizing the heartland by digging into economics and threading together the trends and challenges that unite this 19-state region.
As defined in the report, this so-called flyover country?a large swath of the country?s interior, from Minnesota to Louisiana, and Ohio and Tennessee to Plains states such as North and South Dakota?would, if it were an independent nation, be the world?s fourth-largest economy. While there are significant differences within this region?no surprise, since it covers nearly a third of the country?co-author Mark Muro says the picture of the heartland economy is actually brighter than many assume. ?I think the region and the interior is often a question mark for those on the coasts, which generate the narratives through the media,? he says. ?After the last election, the meme machine went into hyperdrive, not just talking about flyover country, but using terms like American Carnage and manufacturin...