But a funny thing happens when people like me try to point<br />that out: we get enraged responses from economists who feel an affinity for the working people of the afflicted regions – responses that assume that trying to do the numbers must reflect contempt for regional cultures, or something.<br />The point was precisely that Appalachia is a byword for regional decline, which makes it striking<br />that East Germany, which has received the kind of aid Appalachia can only dream of, is suffering an even faster demographic decline.<br />For example, massive aid to the former East Germany hasn’t prevented a large decline in<br />population, much bigger than the population decline in Appalachia over the same period.<br />The Economics of Regional Self-Esteem -<br />Donald Trump won the electoral college at least in part by promising to bring<br />coal jobs back to Appalachia and manufacturing jobs back to the Rust Belt.<br />As someone who is generally a supporter of government activism, I’d actually like to be convinced<br />that a judicious program of subsidies, relocating government departments, whatever, really can sustain communities whose traditional industry has eroded.<br />Apparently even suggesting that the decline in some kinds of traditional employment can’t be reversed, and<br />that sustaining regional economies can be hard, is a demonstration of elitist contempt for regular people.
