http://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2014/03/29/ranking-states-where-you-have-the-best-and-worst-chance-of-achieving-the-american-dream/
A group called Opportunity Nation created a ranking of all the US states in relation to how well its citizens can achieve the American Dream. The researchers used 16 economic indicators, including unemployment rate and the percentage of adults who volunteer. States who invested a lot in education also tended to rank higher. The North and Midwest were the highest ranking regions, with the southern states more towards the bottom. This is interesting because we talked a lot in class about social mobility and opportunities available to people in different countries, and this shows that even within the US these opportunities differ.
A group called Opportunity Nation created a ranking of all the US states in relation to how well its citizens can achieve the American Dream. The researchers used 16 economic indicators, including unemployment rate and the percentage of adults who volunteer. States who invested a lot in education also tended to rank higher. The North and Midwest were the highest ranking regions, with the southern states more towards the bottom. This is interesting because we talked a lot in class about social mobility and opportunities available to people in different countries, and this shows that even within the US these opportunities differ.
5 comments:
This is a very interesting article and there seems to be a geographic trend in the states with the best opportunity for achieving the American Dream. I noticed the midwestern and rural states in the North tended to have a higher chance while the southern states generally fell towards the bottom. I recently read an article on the differences in the percentage states tax with Wyoming ranking the lowest and New York the highest, but the two states are 18th and 20th on this index, so it does not appear that these two indicators are correlated. I would be interested in looking at the inherited wealth of the states because inherited wealth and a positive relationship with human capital that would lead to a better chance of achieving the American Dream.
This is a very interesting article as we barely talk about social mobility within the States. In this ranking, they include Community Health and Civic Life Dimension to measure “opportunity”, which is unusual. I found the results quite surprising, as I expected the mid-Atlantic region should rank the highest. These states are headquarters of big firms and home of many great colleges. Based on the ranking, the North and Midwest seem to do the best, while most southern states are in the bottom. Another intriguing fact is the states ranked highest are ones that are rural and have small population size.
While its apparent that living conditions around the country are different, I believe every state as areas that are "higher quality". I wondering what factors were the strongest indicators for low chance of achieving the America Dream. Also, to this researcher what exactly is the definition of the American Dream? Are they being strict or looser than the average American's or even immigrants image of the American Dream?
Well every state should be treated like it is its own country, without the foreign policy. Because of federalism, states can decide how to run their own regions: tax policies, education, healthcare, subsidies etc. The way this is done, I believe is what makes a particular state more appealing which in turn can allow for a better chance of achieving the American dream. Furthermore, it could be that states were ranked higher because they currently have new markets starting up or higher labor demands. Higher labor demands could cause a higher wage, since firms are going to compete for the labor.
I am glad my state is ranked first! But is that good or bad? The author could have described this more, I was a little confused. Like what exactly does he mean by the American dream.
The cost of living in the top states is pretty high which could affect the output. Like Martin said about inherited wealth, that could be the factor. Education could play a big role in this and it seems like more New England schools have better education systems. It would be interesting to look at this correlation.
Post a Comment