Upwardly Mobile

"It is good to follow one's own bent, so long as it leads upward." - Andre Gide

One of the bedrocks of economic theory is that labor will migrate towards areas where there are higher wages and a better quality of life.  The theory goes that if you remove all borders then workers will naturally flow to areas flush with job opportunities.  This is one of the reasons behind creating the Euro Zone or the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Furthermore there is proof that children who are moved to areas with better education, lower crime and where there is a preponderance of two parent families earn more than 10% than their peers.  With this as proof one would think that the theory would hold as what parent doesn't want the best for their children?

A new study however has shown that the theory may not hold true specifically for those reliant on government subsidies.  Unfortunately these are the people that would benefit most from an improvement in living standards and are the demographic of people that are assumed most likely to move with their relevant industries.  The finding is that not only can these people often not afford the expense to move but they are tied to their subsidies.  If they move they lose their subsidies such as housing and food stamps which is often their major source of financial sustenance.

Now moving from one town does not mean that the subsidies are lost forever but it often means that they are lost for a period of time.  This period of time is more than most are able to handle and so they stay put.  Changing the way that the subsidies are issued would be a big step in the right direction however society has found many ways of blocking the needy from entering the upper class halls.  One is to restrict low income housing or change the building specifications to effectively stop the building of any space that would allow cheap units to be rented.

In addition to these issues America has long had a love of the automobile.  This love has created a system where moving large bodies of people around the country is expensive and time consuming.  Public transportation while improving is still far behind Europe and most of the rest of the modern world so spending money on these infrastructure projects would not only create work for those needing it but would bolster the economy far more than throwing more money at banks.

Creating a truly mobile work force should be a priority in the United States.  Spreading the burden of subsidies evenly would assist those cities that are struggling to handle the draws and creating mobility would give everyone the ability to find work at a decent wage.  The result would be a truly upwardly mobile economy and one that would worth celebrating and investing.