Companies and retailers finally cut prices in response to U.S. consumer frustration and lack of cash

U.S. companies are finally taking American consumer frustration over inflation and high prices seriously. "Companies from Clorox to Kraft Heinz are finally realizing that half of American consumers can’t afford what they are selling," report Sarah Nassauer, Heather Haddon and Natasha Khan of The Wall Street Journal. 

Kraft Heinz has lower prices on several popular
grocery items.

For the food industry and retailers, having half of the U.S. population — roughly 180 million Americans — struggle to put food on the table isn't good for business, even when those businesses are making money. The Journal reports, "To appeal to cash-strapped and inflation-weary shoppers, the companies are launching smaller and cheaper products, pitching value packages and, in some cases, reversing price increases."

Companies like Target, Walmart and Coca-Cola are aiming their deals at lower-income Americans who are being squeezed by gas prices, food inflation and wages that aren't keeping up with costs. "Walmart executives said that they had lowered the price tag on 7,200 items and planned to use the company’s tariff refund to fund further price cuts."

Kraft Heinz has reduced prices on several of its staple products, including Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh products and Maxwell House coffee. It plans to "absorb about 80% of its inflation this year," Nassauer adds. The company's CEO, Steve Cahillane, told the Journal, “The consumer can only absorb so much.”

Target's lower toy prices have increased
sales. (Target photo)

Even car companies have gotten the memo. "Jeep maker Stellantis, which also makes Ram trucks and Chrysler minivans, is planning seven new cars 'under the $40,000 range,'" Nassauer writes. It's also planning for two new car models that will retail for under $30,000.

Several companies that voluntarily slashed prices are seeing sales volumes increase. Target’s successful toy department price cuts are an example. In a recent meeting, the company told investors that "it is experiencing 'tremendous growth' in its toy department, where it has introduced offerings priced at $20 or less," the Journal reports.

Survey: Seniors, rural residents and renters face the 'devasting impact' of inflation

Rising gas and grocery costs hit lower-income Americans 
harder. (Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery, Unsplash)

Even before the Iran war, seniors and rural families were struggling to afford basics such as groceries, gas and rent. With the Strait of Hormuz closure, more Americans are under financial strain, but the higher costs hit lower-income people and families harder.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey shows "certain groups of Americans are falling behind financially, with seniors, renters and people living outside metropolitan areas facing particular hardships," reports Stephanie Liebergen of Scripps News. The survey gathers demographic, social and economic data on Americans over five-year time spans.

Between 2020 and 2024, the "poverty rate for seniors rose in more than 800 counties when compared to the five years before, according to the survey," Liebergen writes. "Inflation wiped out almost all income gains for older Americans during this period."

Rural Americans' finances also lost ground because of lower or stagnant wages. Liebergen explains, "The median household income in large metro areas is 30% higher compared to households in rural communities, according to the new data." Renters, who tend to fall into lower income brackets, also got pinched. 

Eric Pachman, a data expert who analyzed the survey's results, told Scripps, "What the story really is, and what's really hitting me very hard right now, is the devastating impact of inflation on people at lower income brackets."

The survey does not include details on the 2025 tariff wars and the 2026 Iran war. Those two impacts have driven inflation higher, leaving more Americans spending a higher percentage of their incomes on gas and groceries.

Consumer prices across the U.S. rose at the "fastest rate since May 2023 last month, as sharp increases in energy costs caused by the war in the Middle East," reports Lydia DePillis of The Wall Street Journal. "Average gasoline prices are above $4.50 per gallon, while diesel prices have nearly doubled. . . .Grocery costs rose 2.9% since last April."

Report on rural places with high broadband utilization rates shows dramatic growth for businesses

Many rural places with high broadband utilization
have increased business growth rates.

Reliable and fast broadband service can bring revenue and jobs to rural areas struggling with poverty and shrinking populations due to few work opportunities, reports Kristi Eaton of The Daily Yonder. A new report from the Center on Rural Innovation "found that in areas with high adoption rates of broadband, self-employment increased by 10% or more."

Amanda Weinstein, director of Research at the Center on Rural Innovation, told Eaton, "For those communities with high broadband utilization, they saw a tremendous difference, specifically with entrepreneurship. We saw not just our businesses not closing, but new businesses opening. The difference was so stark that it was a 213% difference in the business growth rate.”

The town of Statesboro in Bulloch County, Georgia, hopes improving its broadband "will help the community break its pattern of persistent poverty," Eaton writes. "Serial entrepreneur Adam Tsang believes reliable, super-fast Internet is paramount for his Statesboro business, Whiskey Grail. He said that in today’s world, slow connections, even when temporary, have an outsized impact on businesses such as his."

Bulloch County has benefited from the dedication of its broadband service provider, which has installed high-speed fiber broadband service to 100% of the region's locations. Weinstein told Eaton, "What you see from Bulloch Solutions – they are a broadband service provider -- is really this commitment that everyone, and they mean everyone across the county, should have access to high-speed internet.”

Rural places that have successfully installed fiber broadband have seen positive financial shifts, which can make a big difference for the community's quality of life. The report states, "Counties that effectively utilize broadband are seeing marked improvements in local economic dynamism, suggesting that broadband can help mitigate the economic disadvantages often faced by rural areas."

Grocery prices weigh heavily on American minds; executives say 'shoppers will adjust.' Can they afford to?

$100 doesn't stretch near as far as it used to.
(Photo by G. Tovato, Unsplash)

When it comes to minimalist designs, less might be more. But when it comes to American wallets, less is just less. "Prices for hundreds of grocery items have increased more than 50% since 2019 as food companies raised their prices. Executives have said that higher prices were needed to offset their own rising costs for ingredients, transportation and labor," report Stephanie Stamm and Jesse Newman of The Wall Street Journal. "Some U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration have criticized food companies for using tactics such as shrinkflation, in which companies shrink their products — but not their prices." As grocery costs have risen, so has consumer ire, and some food producers are starting to make changes and offer more deals. 

Instead of anger, some consumers have opted for a more creative response to hikes. Stamm and Newman write, "Sharon Faelten, a 74-year-old retiree from Underhill, Vt., said that instead of a wallet-punishing ordeal, she tries to think of trips to the store like procurement raids depicted in apocalyptic novels, where the goal is to stock her fridge, freezer and pantry for as little money as possible.

The fact that $100 doesn't go nearly as far as it used to makes some citizens more pessimistic about the country's overall economy. "Millions of U.S. households were flush with cash during the pandemic, thanks to stimulus checks, fatter unemployment checks and the expanded Child Tax Credit," reports Aimee Picchi of CBS News. In 2024, most pandemic cash has been spent, inflation is up and affordable housing can be difficult to find. However, the Journal reports, "The price of food and household staples continues to weigh heavier on consumers’ minds than other economic concerns."

Are prices continuing to climb? Yes, but much more slowly. "Grocery prices were up 1% in February from a year earlier, Labor Department data show," the Journal reports. "They were up 10.2% in February 2023 versus a year earlier, and were up 1.2% in February 2019 from a year earlier." In all, Stamm and Newman found that what cost a family $100.03 in 2019 now costs $136.89 . . . . "Some food-company executives have said that shoppers will adjust over time to higher prices, as they have in the past."

Quick hits: Wayne County murals showcase 'Walldogs'; a Midwestern state of mind; the eclipse capital is in Illinois

Willie Nelson singing at the first Farm Aid concert in 1985.
(Wayne Walldogs photo via Successful Farming)

Murals in Wayne County, Iowa, stand as a testament to the region's dynamic and resilient history. "Wayne County, a part of the Mormon Trail, where Brigham Young led his followers from Illinois to Utah in 1846, is also known for its excellent hunting opportunities, large Amish community, and well-appointed historical museum," reports Lisa Prater Froust of Successful Farming. "Last year, these historical events and figures were vividly brought to life in 16 murals painted during the five-day Wayne County Walldogs Festival." Not sure what 'walldog' is? Click here.

The Midwestern United States 
(Wikipedia map, from Census Bureau data)

Think you're a Midwesterner? For most residents, the answer depends on geography, but some people have other ideas. "Everyone knows places such as Ohio and Minnesota are solidly in the Midwest. But a recent poll finds that the Midwest is more a state of mind than just a place you can point to on a map," report Ben Kesling and Jennifer Levitz of The Wall Street Journal. "People from Colorado (42%), Oklahoma (66%) and even Wyoming (54%) think they live in the Midwest. . . . Some locals are baffled: 'Who ARE you people?'"

Pluto was demoted to one of dozens of dwarf
planets. (NASA photo via Nat Geo)

In 1930, a farm boy turned astronomer from Streator, Illinois, Clyde William Tombaug, discovered Pluto, which was designated our solar system's ninth planet, but then in 2006, Pluto got demoted. "Mike Brown, CalTech professor of astronomy and author of How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming, crashed the party and took away Pluto's planetary classification," reports Eric Alt of National Geographic. "Ever since the worlds of science and pop culture have debated Pluto's fate. . . . the matter seems far from settled."

Some news sources say the U.S. economy is recovering from the dark days of the pandemic, with most measures reporting a healthy rebound despite inflation's hold on grocery and housing costs. That's one picture. Talk to a local pawnbroker, and you'll hear a different report. "Accumulating pawnshop inventory means fewer buyers than sellers – a sign that for the lowest-income Americans, times remain tough," reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today. "Some Americans – people with retirement plans, savings and stock holdings – may gripe about inflation and the economy, but they're doing all right. Others are surviving pawn to pawn."

Location of Mikanda in Jackson
County, Illinois. (Wikipedia map)

 

The U.S. eclipse capital is the unassuming southern Illinois town of Mikanda, Illinois, pop. 500. It has been "blessed by the cosmos for the second time in under 10 years," reports Hunter Bassler of KSDK in St. Louis, Missouri. "Mikanda is the exact intersection for both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses, an astronomical wonder that rarely ever happens in such a short time span, according to NASA. . . . Village officials are preparing for bigger crowds this year."

Rainbow over Cheesebox Butte. Cheesebox Canyon is a popular Bear Ears hiking trail.
(Photo by Stephen Trimble, Writers on the Range)

Without knowing the region's history, Bear Ears National Monument evokes thoughts of strength, softness, and beauty. Dive deeper into the story of this 1.36 million-acre site in southeast Utah, and a timeline of battles, historical power dynamics and unresolved conflict emerges. "The political tussle over this stunning expanse of red rock canyons exemplifies all the cultural dissonance in the rural West," writes Stephen Trimble in his opinion for Writers on the Range. "White residents never envisioned challenges to their political power. But in 2009, the feds came down hard on generations of casual pothunting by local white families. Then, after a century of oppressing their Indigenous neighbors, lawsuits strengthened Native voting rights."

When it comes to the economy, many rural Americans feel left out of the conversation, study groups suggest

When it comes to the economy, rural Americans tend to
feel unheard. (The Daily Yonder photo)

When news outlets claim the U.S. economy has shown "surprising resilience" or robust job growth, their analysis often neglects rural Americans, leaving people feeling more marginalized and unheard, The Daily Yonder polling found. Daily Yonder Publisher Dee Davis outlines their research efforts and gives voice to some rural experiences and needs. Below is a condensed version of his commentary based on the polling and discussions with rural residents.

"For the last couple of years, we have been working with groups around the country to get a sense of what rural communities were feeling about the economy. Are country people hurting? Are they optimistic? Is it the same old up one day and down the next? As part of our research, we have commissioned polling, conducted eight focus groups in four states, and shared what we have found with policy professionals and political analysts. As the fog begins to lift, here is what I see.

"My uncle used to tell me he was too poor to pay attention. News that the economy is rip-roaring, with crashing unemployment and rising wages, is lost on most rural Americans we surveyed right now, even with those who say they are better off than before. The price of things — a gallon of gas, a dozen of eggs — has knocked rural communities off course and money is not what it used to be.

"And a measurable part of the rural population is pissed. They have had it with oil companies, drug makers, and distant corporations who care not a whit what country people are going through. Rural people are of two minds about government in that, one, they want it out of the way, and two, they want it to intervene to create new jobs in rural America.

The following are comments made by participants in the focus group sessions. "Focus group participant from Wisconsin: 'It's really difficult not to fall into the trap . . . where you really do start to internalize it and think 'Well I must be a failure, because I don't have what my parents had. I certainly don't have what my grandparents had.'. . . A participant from Kentucky: 'I'm in survival mode every day.'. . . Participant from Ohio: "I'm really worried about the kids because it's way worse than a lot of people realize. Like so many of them are depressed and anxious and don't know what to do. Losing hope, being suicidal. I mean children, like little children even, we are not even talking teenagers. And they need hope. They need to see something get better. Some reason to become an adult.'

"Our analysis of these rural focus groups showed us:

• People want to share their stories and be heard, but they often feel ignored: misunderstood and maligned by the media.
• People are struggling with loss — loss of status, wealth, a valued role — but they try not to give in to despair.
• People will act out of hope in situations where they can receive and offer community support. Being of service to others is a valued purpose.
• People in our groups want to push back against partisan politics and culture war rhetoric."

Go here to read the about the complete polling analysis.

Campaigning with rural policy messages could 'move the needle' in swing states, a new poll suggests

First page of poll results via The Daily Yonder

For campaigns looking to attract swing voters, rural Americans offer a surprising opportunity to "move the needle" in battleground states, a new poll by the Center for Rural Strategies and Lake Research Partners suggests. "The findings provide a potential new and more effective roadmap for candidates vying for seats in state legislatures, Congress, and the White House ahead of the 2024 elections," reports Will Wright of The Daily Yonder. "The survey suggests as many as 37% of rural voters are swing, blue-collar voters who could be swayed by the right policy proposals and messaging."

Pollsters for The Center for Rural Strategies and Lake Research Partners, a Democratic research firm, "interviewed a weighted sample of 500 likely voters in rural zip codes in 12 states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, and Georgia," Wright explains. "They asked rural Americans how they feel about their place in the economy and how their feelings intersect with modern politics. . . . While partisanship remains strong among the rural electorate, voters were aligned on many of their chief concerns: affordable housing, the high cost of food, and corporate greed."

Overall, the poll indicated three primary points of concern: "Lowering prices; bringing good-paying jobs to local communities; and a populist message focused on corporate greed — received such broad support that they rivaled voters’ agreement on core values like family and freedom," Wright reports. 

Among those polled, "(Joe) Biden was viewed unfavorably by 66% of respondents, while (Donald) Trump was viewed unfavorably by 48%. And while the rising cost of living was the top issue for people aligned with both parties and for independents, Republicans were also more likely to put that as their top issue." Wright reports. "Pollster Celinda Lake said the poll revealed the potential for Democrats to perform much better in rural areas than they might otherwise believe. . . . Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, said the effectiveness of policy messages shows a path forward. . . . While many candidates focus heavily on suburban areas where voters are viewed as more persuadable, the polling suggests rural areas may be well worth the time and money."

Read complete poll results here.

Goldman Sachs commits $100 million to help rural businesses raise capital and expand

Photo by Andrew Kelly, Reuters via ASBN

In a win for rural entrepreneurship, global investment leader Goldman Sachs has committed $100 million to help "rural small business owners raise capital and grow their enterprises" through its 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, reports Colin Velez of America's Small Business Network. "According to the Goldman Sachs website, the company plans to divide the new $100 million among three groups: community lenders funding rural small business owners will receive $75 million; community college courses hosted by the 10,000 Small Businesses organization will receive $15 million; local entrepreneurs will receive the remaining $10 million in the form of grants."

The rural initiative will launch in North Dakota and Arkansas.

The investment will seed entrepreneurship and business growth that addresses rural businesses' unique challenges and vital role in rural community economics and overall health. The release noted how a lack of capital prevents rural business owners from growing their businesses. It cites an "accompanying survey that found only 7% of rural entrepreneurs felt they received adequate support from non-government entities. Limited access to child care, healthcare and labor were also cited as obstacles to expansion," Velez writes. "Noting such individuals employ roughly 65% of their local workforces, the company argued that these conditions are also holding back economic growth."

Rural enterprises often struggle with investment dollars and are "naturally neglected by typical lenders and education institutions, as they represent a smaller portion of the national economy than competitors in more populous states," Velez reports. "If more entrepreneurs were to leverage private and government programs that prioritize small business growth in underserved areas, this could help reverse these tendencies and ultimately ensure wealth is distributed more evenly between different parts of the country." 

'Reshaping the economic narrative around America’s rural communities' will hear from practitioners in diverse places

The Brookings Institution will hold a webinar, "Reshaping the economic narrative around America’s rural communities," Wednesday, June 15, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EDT. RSVP to watch.

Brookings says, "Persistent narratives of population loss and poverty have shaped the stereotype of rural America as decaying communities rooted in decline for decades. This dominant narrative evokes powerful charitable emotions that stimulate billions of dollars in anti-poverty investments to support their survival. Unfortunately, these critical investments come at the expense of rural America's identity, which is now mired in a thick narrative of disempowerment and urban dependence. This portrayal underappreciates the durability and ingenuity of these communities."

The webinar "will host practitioners from diverse rural minority communities to explore ways to reverse the paradox of rural disempowerment and investment and expand the narrative about the places that 46 million Americans call home," Brookings says. "Panelists will discuss policy solutions to enable economic growth in these poorly understood communities."

Brookings Governance Studies fellow Makada Henry-Nickie will moderate a "fireside chat" with

Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, then moderate a panel with Olugbenga "Gbenga" Ajilore, Office of the Undersecretary for Rural Development, USDA; Teresa Burnett, executive director of the Monahans (Texas) Chamber of Commerce, Jamie Gloshay, (Navajo, White Mountain Apache, Kiowa) with Native Women Lead; Jennifer Grassham, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Lea County, New Mexico, and David Jimenez, CEO of the Leaco Rural Telephone Cooperative of southeastern New Mexico.

Online viewers can submit questions for the speakers via e-mail to events@brookings.edu or on Twitter @BrookingsGov using #InclusiveOpportunity.

Overcrowding, lack of resources spur rural-jail death spike

An inmate in the Boyd County Detention Center in Catlettsburg, Ky., died of withdrawal symptoms. (Google Maps image)

America's smallest jails have some of the highest death rates in the nation, spurred by overcrowding and lack of resources, Katie Rose Quandt reports for The Atlantic.

"Across the country, an average of roughly three people died each day in local jails of all sizes in 2016, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics — a rate that is almost certainly an underestimate. A disproportionate number of those deaths happen in America’s smallest jails," Quandt reports. "Mortality rates were highest in jails holding a daily average of fewer than 50 people between 2000 and 2012, the last period for which BJS reported mortality by jail size; suicide rates were inversely correlated with jail size from 2000 to 2007. Small-to-midsize jails tend to have fewer resources to provide adequate mental-health and medical care, suicide prevention, and drug treatment—services that many people entering jails need. They also often have less oversight and are more overcrowded than their larger counterparts. In many ways, small institutions are the most troubling example of America’s epidemic of preventable deaths in jails—and they are also the least likely to draw public attention."

Jail deaths are almost certainly underreported, not least because many jails routinely release prisoners who are near death, said Jasmine Heiss, director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s "In Our Backyards" initiative, which studies rural incarceration trends.

Recent criminal-justice reforms have led to slow declines in the overall incarcerated population since its 2008 peak, but that's mostly been in state and federal prisons along with large urban jails. "The opposite is true, however, in the rest of the nation’s 3,134 local jails, which are operated by counties or cities and typically hold people who are awaiting trial or serving short sentences," Quandt reports. "Over the same time frame, jail populations shot up 27 percent in rural areas, and 7 percent in small-to-midsize cities."

One reason for rural jail population spikes: even overcrowded jails are increasingly taking in populations from elsewhere to make money. "Roughly 80 percent of jails around the country rented out bed space in 2013 to other counties, federal agencies like the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or state prison systems. This especially bloats jail populations in rural areas: In 2013, 46 percent of people in rural southern jails were being held for other jurisdictions," Quandt reports. "This trend has completely changed the landscape of local jailing in states like Kentucky. . . . Instead of de-carcerating, the state farms out half its prison population to county jails for $31.34 a day, leaving people serving multiyear sentences in small jails with worse access to programs, services, and health care. . . . Around the country, state departments of corrections limiting their intake during the pandemic have become yet another contributor to growth in jail populations."

Many Kentucky counties seem to be trying to replace coal-related jobs with incarceration jobs, according to Judah Schept, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University who studies rural incarceration. "You have counties becoming reliant on jail infrastructure," he told Quandt. "You have folks who live there anticipating work opportunities at jails and prisons, because coal employment is gone. And you have increasing numbers of people actually going into jail."

"Sometimes, when small counties build massive jails with the intention of housing state and federal detainees, this increased bed space can actually enable more local incarceration," Quandt reports, citing a rural sheriff's quote in a Vera Institute report: "They said, 'If you build it, they will come,' And that’s what happened. The judges knew there was room, so they threw them in jail."

Overcrowding "can mean less programming, fewer services, unsafe conditions, and more time locked down in cells. These problems coincide with other structural difficulties confronting small jails," Quandt reports. That can affect officer retention, the availability of rehabilitative programs, and health-care services.

But jails increasingly serve as first-line resources for mental health, addiction and homelessness in infrastructure-poor rural communities, according to Heiss. "In the absence of broader societal support systems, incarceration has become the catch-all solution in areas hit hard by poverty, unemployment, and the meth and opioid epidemics," she told Quandt.

A Vera Institute data analysis "found that smaller counties are less likely to have resources for programs like pretrial services and diversion programs that keep people out of jail," Quandt reports. "They also use pretrial detention at a higher rate than many jails in bigger cities." About two-thirds of the U.S. jail population is awaiting trial (many because they can't afford bail), compared to 50% before 1993. About 75% of people reported to have died in jail between 2006 and 2016 were awaiting trial.

But pretrial detention doesn't seem to keep the public safer. "A Prison Policy Initiative analysis of bail reforms around the country found that releasing more people before trial does not lead to more crime," Quandt reports. "Pretrial detention does, however, keep people in dangerous and overcrowded jails, instead of allowing them to await trial safely from home."

The story illustrates rural jail disparities with the story of Christopher Hall, a Kentuckian who died in early 2019 from withdrawal symptoms while awaiting trial in the Boyd County Detention Center. Because of previous jail deaths, the county jailer had resigned and the newly elected successor began his tenure just weeks before Hall's death. A corrections expert who analyzed the jail's logbooks said the new jailer had inherited a broken system and hadn't had time to fix the jail's problems. But, Quandt writes, "some structural problems—overcrowding by the courts, an unequal society that often uses incarceration as a solution to mental illness and addiction—cannot be fixed by any one jail or jailer."

April 22 webinar to discuss lessons from Wyoming and Appalachia on transitioning from coal economy

A free webinar at 12 p.m. ET on April 22 will discuss how Wyoming and Appalachia are faring in transitioning from a coal-based economy to other industries. Register here.

From the website: "Join the Energy News Network and WyoFile for an online panel discussion where we’ll explore the cultural, political, and economic obstacles faced by rural communities hoping to survive and thrive in a world without coal."

Ken Paulman, the director of the Energy News Network, will moderate the following panelists:

• Mason Adams, journalist, Floyd County, Virginia
• Shannon Anderson, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming
• Heidi Binko, Just Transition Fund, Virginia
• Dustin Bleizeffer, journalist, Casper, Wyoming

The webinar is produced with funding from the Just Transition Fund.

Focus on W. Va., driven by Manchin's pivotal role, could also help the rest of Appalachia and other distressed rural areas

Manchin and then-VP Biden in 2017
(Photo by Tom Williams, Roll Call)

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's pivotal position in the federal government – "He can shoot down filibuster reform, shape the economic recovery or moderate liberal hopes for the minimum wage" – makes Democrats "laugh uneasily" and say "So just give the man what he wants," writes Emily Badger of The New York Times. "But there is a deeper possibility in this unusual alignment of one senator, one struggling state and one suddenly attentive capital." And it could make a difference in more than West Virginia.

“West Virginia and Appalachia deserve an outsized piece of any federal recovery policy,” Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, told Badger, who writes, "That’s because the region’s decades-long role in powering the nation through coal, she said, came at enormous cost to the health of local residents, their environment and their economy. A serious federal response to that history could both bolster the state and be a model for other parts of the country that have been left behind."

Appalachian liberals like Allen "dream of broadband, vast brownfield cleanup efforts, greater aid to community lenders who operate where traditional banks won’t, more resources for high-quality housing and health clinics — investment on a scale that would return to the region all the wealth that was taken out of it by resource extraction," Badger writes. That happened mainly in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, which is represented by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a conservative but relatively spending-friendly Republican, Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers of Somerset, member and former chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

Appalachia has lessons for the rest of the nation. It was one of the first rural regions that have fallen further behind "as other places grow more prosperous," as "globalization and knowledge work began to reorder the economy, with tremendously unequal consequences depending on where you live," Badger writes. "Today, however, no one in Washington is responsible for confronting that pattern, said John Lettieri, the president of the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington think tank that has proposed a new cabinet-level office to do that." Members of Congress and others have made similar proposals, and the Biden administration appears to be listening.

Badger offers examples of why high-level coordination is needed: "Some health programs devote extra resources to rural communities, but misclassify which ones are “rural.” The federal government incentivizes banks to invest in struggling neighborhoods. But those incentives don’t work well in rural communities with no local bank branches. The government also has an array of tax credit programs to support development. But they work best with large-scale urban projects, not small rural ones."

This map from the Appalachian Regional Commission, adapted by The Rural Blog, shows Eastern Kentucky is the heart of economic distress in Appalachia. To enlarge, click on it.

Commentary: how to attract millennials to small towns

"Small towns across the country continue to struggle economically as they grapple with the lingering effects of recessions, aging populations, declines in industry and the economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic. These communities need the renewed vitality that comes from an infusion of engaged newcomers. At the same time, a generation of young people are searching for ways to build meaningful lives and careers without the expensive price tag of urban life," Chris Shaffner writes for Route Fifty. "One way for small towns to reverse population declines and accompanying economic struggles is to attract millennials who are growing both their careers and families. Millennials can bring a diverse perspective to local governments, small businesses and other cornerstones of small-town life. Likewise, small communities could provide millennials opportunities to own homes and increase their savings, while enjoying the local culture."

Shaffner, an executive at CoBank, a national cooperative bank that serves rural areas, posits four major ways, along with examples, that small towns can attract Millennials:

• Rural areas need broadband to appeal to remote-working Millennials, so state governments should offer funding and/or tax incentives to increase rural broadband connectivity.
• State and local governments can offer individual and business incentives to bring in new residents, such as offers to pay off student loans, grants for individuals who agree to live in a rural area and work remotely, and tax incentives for businesses that expand into rural areas.
• Create local programs that celebrate small-town life, especially those that encourage people who have moved away to move back to their hometowns.
• Local governments can improve the economic landscape for existing businesses and lure in new ones with economic incentives. Programs to revitalize Main Street can also help increase community morale.

Analysis shows covid's impact on state economies; Thursday, Aug. 27 webinar will discuss more details

A new report provides a wealth of data on the state-level economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic across industries and in terms of overall employment. The report by the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy, is illustrated with plenty of charts, graphs and maps.

Here are the report's key findings:

• Every state is "well down" from February employment levels. Eleven states have payroll job losses of more than 10 percent, and 47% of states have lost more than 5% of jobs.
• States with more covid-19 cases in July saw worse job growth.
• In every state, lower-wage industries have lost far more jobs than high-wage industries.
• Thirty-nine states are down more jobs than they were during the Great Recession.

A webinar on Thursday, Aug. 27, will discuss the report and will include a Q&A session with the authors. The free webinar will take place at 2 p.m. ET. Click here for more details or to register.

Struggling small dairy farmers in swing state Wisconsin could help determine the presidential election

Small dairy farmers everywhere are struggling, but in Wisconsin the pain is particularly acute because the industry makes up such a large part of the state's economy. That could hurt President Trump in November, since Wisconsin is a swing state, Dan Kaufman reports for The New Yorker.

Kaufman paints a grim picture: "Five years ago, the price of milk fell precipitously, accelerating the long unravelling of rural Wisconsin. Since 2010, the population in two-thirds of the state’s rural counties has decreased, leading to a shrinking workforce, fewer jobs and businesses, and slower income growth rates than in metro counties. More than 70 rural schools have closed, and for the past three years the state has led the country in family-farm bankruptcies."

Many banks have stopped loaning dairy farmers money, Angie Sullivan of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, told Kaufman. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue offered little hope for small dairy farmers in a town hall at the World Dairy Expo in Madison last October, saying that "In America, the big get bigger and the small go out," Kaufman notes.

Over the past decade, about half the dairy farms in Wisconsin went bankrupt; today there are about 7,000. "Yet the number of cows has remained constant, because of consolidation and the proliferation of factory dairy farms, some of which have herds of more than 5,000 cows," Kaufman reports.

Rural voters in Wisconsin and other battleground states proved decisive in 2016. Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, and got nearly two-thirds of the vote in rural areas. "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that the largest shift in voting between Obama’s seven-point victory in Wisconsin, in 2012, and Trump’s one-point win came in communities that cast fewer than a thousand votes," Kaufman reports. But numerous polls show that Trump's support is down in such areas, and rural voters moved to the left in the Wisconsin primary.

One dairy farmer Kaufman interviewed, Jerry Volenec, said he voted for Obama in 2012 but went for Trump in 2016. He says he now regrets that vote: "If I had known the things I know about him now, I wouldn’t have voted for him."

Thu. webinar from Harvard to explore rural-urban economic divide, accuracy of metrics used to measure economy

A panel of journalists and policy experts will discuss the rural-urban economic divide in a free webinar at 1 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 13. Registration is required, and the webinar will last about an hour. Click here for more information or to register.

The webinar will be hosted by Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and is part of a series aimed at exploring the difference in how people experience economic opportunity and how the economy is portrayed and understood by the media, government, and elite institutions using yardsticks (such as gross domestic product, the stock market, and unemployment rates) that don't always reflect economic reality for Americans.

From the website: "Divides – economic, racial, cultural, and educational, to name just a few – exist between communities across the country. But the perceived divide between rural and urban areas have been a lightning rod for our national conversation over the past several years. [The panelists] will dig into what is real about the divide between rural and urban America, and where we actually find more commonalities than differences across these communities. Come hear the real stories of what is happening economically in urban and rural America."

The panelists will be:

• Connor Sheets, investigative reporter for the Alabama Media Group
• Phillip Martin, senior investigative reporter for the WGBH News Center for Investigative Reporting in Boston
• Dr. Gordon Hanson, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
• Setti Warren, executive director of the Shorenstein Center and former mayor of Newton, Mass.
• Tara Westover, author of Educated and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School

Quick hits: USDA says don't plant random seeds from China; what rural hospitals can teach their urban peers

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Commentary: lack of indoor plumbing in marginalized communities is a too-often neglected environmental justice issue. Read more here.

A popular Instagram account raises funds for LGBTQ+ people in Appalachia, but it's not clear where the money actually goes. Read more here.

USDA warns people not to plant any random unsolicited seeds they get from China. Read more here.

What rural hospitals can teach their urban counterparts about patient engagement. Read more here.

Commentary: researchers need to use a combination of measurements to get the clearest picture of broadband's impact on the economy. Read more here.

Tuesday virtual town hall with bipartisan former USDA secretaries to talk economic challenges in rural America

On Tuesday, July 28, at 3 p.m. ET, a virtual town hall will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing rural America in a crisis economy. Two former agriculture secretaries, Republican Ann Veneman and Democrat Tom Vilsack, will discuss the issues using examples from 9/11 and the Great Recession. "Rural America: Leadership in a Crisis Economy" will be moderated by Kirk Siegler, a National Public Radio reporter who covers rural issues.

The town hall will be presented by the National Association of Counties, the National Cooperative Business Association, and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership. NACo aims to connect and serve county governments. The NCBA is a membership organization for cooperatives. The RCAP is a national network of non-profit organizations that provide technical assistance and resources to rural communities. All three lobby lawmakers at the federal level.

Click here to join the town hall and share your views via chat.

Federal Reserve will start buying bonds from major food and agribusiness firms to prop up the economy

The Federal Reserve will buy bonds from large corporations, including several major food and agribusiness firms, "as part of its broad efforts to prop up the economy and financial markets," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank announced nearly $7 billion in individual corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds from nearly 800 companies. "The program is part of the central bank’s unprecedented efforts to pump money into the economy and keep cash moving through financial markets," McCrimmon reports. "The Fed is buying bonds on the open market from companies that meet its eligibility standards. The purchases will lower borrowing costs for those firms should they seek more credit."

Click here for a full list of companies that will receive help.

Policy experts suggest four major changes in federal rural policy amid pandemic

"With Congress back in session, a debate is raging about whether to offer covid-19 relief to state, local, and tribal governments, which are in acute fiscal crisis due to an unexpected double whammy: the direct costs associated with taking quick, decisive action to protect public health, and the indirect costs of loss of revenue that are the inevitable fallout of interrupted economic activity due to social distancing," Katharine Ferguson and Anthony Pipa write for Brookings. Ferguson is the associate director of the Community Strategies Group at the Aspen Institute and Pipa is a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings.

Ferguson and Pipa suggest four ways the federal government can improve rural policies to address systemic disparities that have grown over the past 15 years. Click here to read more.