Posted on 11/20/2020 10:46:41 AM PST by semimojo
Even with a new president and political party soon in charge of the White House, the nation’s economic standoff continues. Notwithstanding President-elect Joe Biden’s solid popular vote victory, last week’s election failed to deliver the kind of transformative reorientation of the nation’s political-economic map that Democrats (and some Republicans) had hoped for. The data confirms that the election sharpened the striking geographic divide between red and blue America, instead of dispelling it...
This time, Biden’s winning base in 477 counties encompasses fully 70% of America’s economic activity, while Trump’s losing base of 2,497 counties represents just 29% of the economy. (Votes are still outstanding in 110 mostly low-output counties, and this piece will be updated as new data is reported.)
In short, 2020’s map continues to reflect a striking split between the large, dense, metropolitan counties that voted Democratic and the mostly exurban, small-town, or rural counties that voted Republican. Blue and red America reflect two very different economies: one oriented to diverse, often college-educated workers in professional and digital services occupations, and the other whiter, less-educated, and more dependent on “traditional” industries.
With that said, it would be wrong to describe this as a completely static map. While the metropolitan/ nonmetropolitan dichotomy remained starkly persistent, 2020 election returns produced nontrivial movement, as Biden added modestly to the Democrats’ metropolitan base and significantly to its vote base. Most notably, Biden flipped seven of the nation’s 100 highest-output counties, strengthening the link between these core economic hubs and the Democratic Party. More specifically, Biden flipped half of the 10 most economically significant counties Trump won in 2016, including Phoenix’s Maricopa County; Dallas-Fort Worth’s Tarrant County; Jacksonville, Fla.’s Duval County; Morris County in New Jersey; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.’s Pinellas County...
Why does this matter? This economic rift that persists in dividing the nation is a problem because it underscores the near-certainty of both continued clashes between the political parties and continued alienation and misunderstandings.
To start with, the 2020’s sharpened economic divide forecasts gridlock in Congress and between the White House and Senate on the most important issues of economic policy. The problem—as we have witnessed over the past decade and are likely to continue seeing—is not only that Democrats and Republicans disagree on issues of culture, identity, and power, but that they represent radically different swaths of the economy. Democrats represent voters who overwhelmingly reside in the nation’s diverse economic centers, and thus tend to prioritize housing affordability, an improved social safety net, transportation infrastructure, and racial justice. Jobs in blue America also disproportionately rely on national R&D investment, technology leadership, and services exports.
By contrast, Republicans represent an economic base situated in the nation’s struggling small towns and rural areas. Prosperity there remains out of reach for many, and the party sees no reason to consider the priorities and needs of the nation’s metropolitan centers. That is not a scenario for economic consensus or achievement.
At the same time, the results from last week’s election likely underscore fundamental problems of economic alienation and estrangement. Specifically, Trump’s anti-establishment appeal suggests that a sizable portion of the country continues to feel little connection to the nation’s core economic enterprises, and chose to channel that animosity into a candidate who promised not to build up all parts of the country, but rather to vilify groups who didn’t resemble his base.
The entire premise is based on a fraud.
Did Biden actually “win” Maricopa County? With 5% more Republicans then Democrats? A place that hasn’t gone for a Democrat since 1992?
What sort of popular enthusiasm would generate such a result? There was none. He couldn’t get a pack of coyotes to come out for him, even if he was offering scraps.
Trump by contrast brought out tens of thousands. I was there just a month ago when that was happening. AF1 caused backups at Sky Harbor, and crowds in Tucson and Prescott were massive.
But Biden does something that hasn’t been done in 30 years?
BS.
,
it IS BS
Also these “areas” are still usually located in red STATES even if they are blue areas within the red states, which have made themselves more business friendly over all.
Besides what do they actually PRODUCE?
you’re full of shit and not seeing the entire picture.
I get so sick of the left pushing this narrative “Well the left leaning parts of the country are the producers with the best economy AND health care”
Just stuff it.
not scammed the poster has always been trollish
So what do they do that produces money and where does that money come from?
What is their definition of “economic activity” and how much of it is just government moving around stolen money?
,,
THANK YOU!! Mostly jobs of a bureaucracy in many of these cities and places.
What do these people produce?
yes because THEY GET GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
Why would you believe that?
Hogwash! The counties of the votes the Rats stole from Trump represent that industry. When this corrupt election is rightfully and justifiably overturned, and Trump is given credit for the 400+ EVs he truly EARNED, all will be back in equilibrium and the earth back in balance.
And all the red counties produce the food that feeds the nation. Perhaps we should just starve these Biden counties. Problem solved.
Yeah, well the Trump voters have 80% of the guns. And over 60% of industrial production. And over 90% of agricultural production.
No contest.
The people who run IT departments are as conservative as they come, the entire business is ran on return on investment and reliability/resiliency.
Might not be a bad idea to divide the country along those lines.
The problem is the blue areas would rapidly lose their businesses to the red ones, and the migration that would follow would cause those blue policies to infiltrate and corrupt the red areas once again.
Wasn’t Willy Sutton the name of a bank robber who when asked why he robbed banks replied “because that is where the money is.” Why do politicians go into government? Because that is where the money is. :^)
Food, fuel, and the transport drivers.
Most of the wealth in those blue country-cities is generated by people living in the red counties outside of the city.
Pure/unadulterated communist clap-trap!
Many national stores and restaurant chains have businesses in many places but the much of the money goes to the corporate headquarters. They make their money from customers all over the nation but corporate headquarters gets a lot of the wealth.
If we patronized only locally owned stores and restaurants the money would be distributed in the local communities and would not be going to highly paid corporate executives? Isn’t that what liberals would want?
It means that the economy and the way its measured is really based on parasitic scam. All of a nations wealth springs from its soil, the rest is manipulation of one form or another. Some of it is honest effort converting raw to finished but much is just one version or another of a con game with paper.
Easy, it's not true
1) GDP counts government spending, so of course high tax-big government states are going to have higher GDPs
2) They are counting where the money is taxed not generated. For example I get a home loan in South Carolina, New York gets the credit because the bank's headquarters are located there. I buy an iPhone in Texas that was made in China, California gets the credit because that's where Apple headquarters are, etc
3) Social Security - Blue states are too expensive to retire, so a lot of Blue State workers paying SS taxes become Red State receivers.
4) Where does most of the food, water, electrical generation, raw materials come from? Not the Blue Cities.
Biden won the eaters (locusts) -— Trump won the feeders (ants).
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