It seems like forever we've been hearing about the decline of the Rust Belt, and people migrating to the West Coast. But why? Why did manufacturing decline in the Midwest? Why are rents so high in California, and house prices surging in the Pacific Northwest? Why does the U.S. population continue to move slowly from East to West? Part of the answer might lie in the shifting patterns of international trade.
There are many forces at work here, all at once. There's the invention of air conditioning, which made the Sun Belt a more attractive place to live. Mass car ownership and the Interstate Highway System facilitated the sprawling cities of the West and South. Automation and competition from China combined to reduce U.S. manufacturing employment. Immigration from Mexico and Asia began to pour into the West and Southwest.
But there might be another force at work here.