Biden Forum, August 8, 2018: Dealing all of our communities into the bargain
There are good reasons for people to believe that the American economy has recovered from the dark economic days of a decade ago, when our financial system was on the verge of collapse and housing values seemed to decline on a daily basis. Today’s optimism is driven by record corporate profits, a soaring stock market, low unemployment, and the longest consecutive string of monthly job growth in our nation’s history.
For a number of communities, that economic success is borne out by record housing values, massive influx of new business investment, and a seemingly endless supply of new jobs. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, booming major metros created 1.9 million jobs, or 95.9 percent of all new jobs created in the economy last year, and were home to 91.2 percent of the nation’s GDP.
This is not the case, however, for far too many communities?—?as well as for certain neighborhoods in otherwise thriving cities. While the national economy is flourishing, many low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities are struggling to keep the jobs they have, let alone create new ones. Growth is virtually nonexistent and wages have not kept up. These are the places where the recovery has yet to take hold.
Remedying this inequality is not just a moral imperative for our country, it is an economic imperative. Addressing economic exclusion has a profound effect on a range of outcomes such as health, education, and poverty. When millions of our citizens, and thousands of our communities, miss out on the economic success that other parts of our country are enjoying, it also has long-term implications for our national economic vitality. For example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that rising inequality in the U.S. led to a 5-point reduction in our national GDP between 1990 and 2010, and the WW Kellogg Foundation found that by 2050, our country stands to realize an $8 trillion gain in GDP by closing the U.S. racial equity gap.
The question then is: How do we go about fostering growth and investment in LMI communities?
