Happy Wednesday! It’s the start of the academic year, so I’m deep in all sorts of work at Cordy College, but I wanted to share an interesting article I saw from the Wall Street Journal the other day about American mobility.

For generations, Americans have chased opportunity by moving from city to city, state to state. U.S. companies were often quicker to hire—and to fire—than employers in other parts of the world. But that defining mobility has stalled, leaving many people in homes that are too small, in jobs they don’t love or in their parents’ basements looking for work.

Others are slapped with “golden handcuffs.” Those who bought homes when mortgage rates were low or have stable white-collar jobs are clinging to them rather than taking big leaps.

This immobility has economic consequences for everyone. The frozen housing market means growing families can’t upgrade, empty-nesters can’t downsize and first-time buyers are all but locked out. When people can’t move for a job offer, or to a city with better job opportunities, they often earn less. When companies can’t hire people who currently live in, say, a different state, corporate productivity and profits can suffer.

Young graduates who don’t land good jobs soon after college often never really recover from those years of diminished earnings, widening the gap between the economy’s winners and losers.

Economic and geographic mobility often go hand in hand. 

So much of the news about the economy focuses on these big metrics: the stock market, the jobs report. But there are so many dimensions that paint the economic picture of the country. As a millennial, I remember all the stories 10-15 years ago about our inability to buy houses. Now my generation has become a little more established, but the same pressures face Gen Z. The housing market is wrecked, and that has so many implications downstream. Compounding that is challenges finding gainful employment. Worth a read to dive into.

Be kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.