heartland

Feudal Future Podcast — Populism Unpacked: Voices from the Heartland

Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:43:40 -0500

Dive into the compelling world of populism in our latest podcast episode where we engage with thought leaders Ryan Streeter and Karl Zinsmeister. With multiple perspectives surrounding the rise of populism, this episode unpacks what it means for the future of American governance and society at large. Discussing the resurgence of populism, our guests present arguments on how it can serve as a counter to the elite's dominance, spotlighting the voices of the working and middle class as critical elements in shaping America's future.

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More podcast episodes & show notes at JoelKotkin.com

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This show is presented by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, which focuses on research and analysis of global, national and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time.

Housing Boom? Not in the Land of Lincoln

Tim W. Ferguson — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:56:57 -0400

You’d think housing prices are rising everywhere in America, the way the current boom is discussed. And that’s nearly true, for lots of reasons: the low interest rates on mortgages; the bidding up of asset prices at a time of loose money; the desire for bigger and more distanced properties in the pandemic, and the swallowing up of thousands of tract homes by investment outfits looking to rent them.

But even with those influences, not everywhere is rising by double-digit percentages annually. People can only live—or own—in so many places at once. And so it is that in a good 10 metropolitan areas, according to realty data site CoreLogic, you’ve barely seen any price appreciation in the five years to June 2021. So, nearly no gain for existing homeowners, and no frightening increases for affordability migrants.

Read the rest of this piece at TimWFerguson.com.

Tim W. Ferguson, the former editor of Forbes’s Asia edition, writes about business, economics and society.

Heartland of Opportunity Report

Heartland Forward — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 12:05:01 -0400

Heartland Forward's newest report is all about "opportunity occupations," jobs that offer middle-class wages but do not require a four-year degree. The report shows that opportunity occupations make up a significant share of the jobs available in both non-metro and metro regions in the Heartland—more so than non-Heartland comparison states like California or Florida. These jobs provide a pathway to revitalizing the middle class.

Learn more in the latest report from Heartland Forward: Heartland of Opportunity Report

Regulation of Electric Power in Texas

Jim Crump — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 12:12:40 -0500

Politicians, pundits, and the public at large have voiced deep concern that electricity was tragically unavailable to many Texans during the recent period of extreme cold. Claims that lax ERCOT planning caused the problem are exaggerated. “Grid independence” from federal regulation is manageable. The problem lies in the supervisory structure that regulates the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) - Texas’ Public Utility Commission (PUC), a three-member panel appointed by the state legislature, and our elected officials, ultimate guardians of the public interest.

To start, claims that ERCOT’s planning process is undisciplined are misleading. Published documents (December 2020, January 2021) evidence well-structured scenario planning of capacity, demand, and reserve margin, including grid requirements and fuel types. True, evolving events brought conditions not premised in these studies but laxness is an unwarranted criticism.

The next layer of electric power management: Oversight of ERCOT by the PUC. Here, critical commentary by knowledgeable observers is valid. To begin with, independent management of Texas’ power grid – that is, independent of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – rests on reasonable logic, not merely the fabled secessionist tendencies of Texans.

Read the rest of this piece at Houston Strategies.

Jim Crump is an energy and chemical industry leader with a depth of industry experience gained with Shell, Accenture Consulting, DuPont, and ExxonMobil, who focuses on energy transition and sustainability.

Another Hit for Lousiville's Boondoggle Bridges

Aaron M. Renn — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 10:57:48 -0500

For years I’ve been writing about how the project to build two new bridge across the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky was an enormous boondoggle.

Years after they opened, the bad financial news continues to roll in. WDRB-TV in Louisville recently reported on a new revenue study conducted by the state of Kentucky in advance of refinancing its bonds.

The study found that due to COVID disruptions, the projected rise of remote work, and other factors, toll revenue is estimated to be $373 million less that previously projected over the next 30 years. This is a 6% decline.

Spread over three decades, this is a manageable amount, but it’s money that’s going to have to come out of the transportation budgets of the states of Indiana and Kentucky. Kentucky used traditional bonding for the project whereas Indiana used a public-private partnership. But Indiana’s P3 structure is a so-called “availability payments” model, which means the private vendor gets their money no matter what. Unlike with the Indiana Toll Road deal, the state of Indiana has all the revenue risk on this project.

Read the rest of this piece at Heartland Intelligence.

Aaron M. Renn is an opinion-leading urban analyst, consultant, speaker and writer on a mission to help America’s cities and people thrive and find real success in the 21st century. He focuses on urban, economic development and infrastructure policy in the greater American Midwest. He also regularly contributes to and is cited by national and global media outlets, and his work has appeared in many publications, including the The Guardian, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Super Bowl Sunday is Flyover Affair — Down to the Ads

Dale Buss — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 12:15:44 -0500

This year, the Big Game is about Flyover Country more than ever. Two of our teams are battling it out. They’re contesting on one of our fields. And their strivings on the gridiron will be accompanied by an ample chorus of TV and digital advertisements by companies that hail from the heartland, ranging from automakers to insurers to food processors to mortgage brokers.

There’s no telling the outcome of Super Bowl LV in a potentially great, quarterback-led match-up in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning champions. But you can be certain that advertisers based in the middle of America will be providing plenty of great commercial moments to the rest of the country and the world.

Read the rest of this piece at The Flyover Coalition.

Dale Buss is founder and executive director of The Flyover Coalition, a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping revitalize and promote the economy, companies and people of the region between the Appalachians and Rockies, the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes. He is a long-time author, journalist, and magazine and newspaper editor, and contributor to Chief Executive, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and many other publications. Buss is a Wisconsin native who lives in Michigan and has also lived in Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Young Firms and Regional Economic Growth

Jonas Crews - Ross DeVol - Richard Florida - Dave Shideler — Wed, 06 May 2020 11:53:33 -0400

Young Firms and Regional Economic Growth demonstrates how knowledge-intensive and Main Street entrepreneurs are critical to long-term economic success. Metropolitans and micropolitans that started with stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems, as measured by the share of total employment at firms age five years or fewer (young firm employment share) and by the share of employment at those young firms with a bachelor’s degree or higher (young firm knowledge intensity), saw notably faster employment growth between 2010 and 2017 in the United States.

Most Heartland communities did not participate fully in entrepreneurial-driven job growth. There are multiple causes for the subpar rate of job creation in the Heartland besides low engagement in entrepreneurial activities; lower educational attainment with less emphasis placed on innovation tied to research and development stands out among them. However, no other single factor can claim a higher explanatory power than entrepreneurial activities.

Huge financial incentives to lure manufacturing facilities or other operations into a region is no longer cost-effective. The key to long-term economic success lies in developing environments that are conducive for entrepreneurs to start and scale up their firms.

Read the rest of the piece at Heartland Forward.

Download full report here.

Michagan's Health and Economic Situations Are Dire

Ross DeVol Dave Shideler and Jonas Crews — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 14:05:30 -0400

New weekly unemployment insurance claims continue to moderate, but remain at levels unseen before the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, new claims filed since March 1st are now above 20 percent of pre-outbreak employment in some states.

Michigan has been hit particularly hard, with the worst mortality rate in the country and the second-worst share of pre-outbreak employment that have filed unemployment insurance claims.

Read the full article at Heartland Forward.

Announcing Heartland Forward — An Institute for Economic Renewal

Rhonda Howard — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 14:49:40 -0400

Heartland Forward is a first-of-its-kind "think and do" tank committed to advancing economic performance in the center of the United States.

President and CEO of Heartland Forward Ross DeVol, states: "Throughout my decades of research experience, I've observed that national research and policy discussions too often overlook the center of the country, especially its small cities and rural areas. The Heartland region faces more economic challenges than the coasts, but it also holds immense potential, and that's why I felt so strongly about launching an organization like Heartland Forward."

You can learn more about the organization at www.heartlandforward.org

The New American Heartland

Alicia Kurimska — Mon, 22 May 2017 18:26:19 -0400

How can Middle America tap into its potential to drive the nation’s economy?

At "The New American Heartland" forum, hosted by the City Club of Cleveland, J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, discussed the economic and cultural challenges facing Middle America. Decline in civic institution participation, drug addiction, and childhood trauma hit lower-income communities higher than anyone else. The key to lifting these communities up is to create economic opportunity because, as Vance explained, “…a good job isn’t just a paycheck, a good job is about having a community, a good job is about going to work and doing something that’s meaningful and dignified…” The source of that opportunity in our country comes from small, but high-growth start-ups, which are largely based on the coasts. However, industries based in the Heartland, such as transportation and energy, are prime for similar innovation which in turn would spur job growth.

Joel Kotkin and Michael Lind, authors of The New American Heartland: Renewing the Middle Class by Revitalizing Middle America report, define the “New American Heartland” as the region between the Appalachians and the Rockies, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. This region holds about half of the country’s population with the power to propel the whole nation’s economy forward. The Heartland’s lower cost of living, high-paying manufacturing employment, and productive power has the potential to foster the middle class and fuel economic growth across the United States.

It is time to change the narrative about Middle America.

Watch the City Club of Cleveland's video of the event here and read a recap, from Peter Krouse of cleveland.com, here.