President Trump was elected to whip Washington into line. But after months of upheaval, there are signs that more and more in Washington are increasingly willing to break ranks with him. 聽
Mobility, economists tell us, is important. Historically, Americans have coped with economic distress by moving to where new jobs are.聽Yet these days, Americans are moving less than at any time since World War II. That has slowed the economy. There are jobs; we鈥檙e just not moving to them like we once did.
The Monitor鈥檚 Simon Montlake wrote brilliantly about the reasons for this last year. But a Wall Street Journal report adds : Perhaps, the country鈥檚 red-blue cultural divide has a part to play, too. In short, many of those looking for jobs don鈥檛 want to move to cities where people think so differently about guns or same-sex marriage. The share of Americans who agree that 鈥渕ost people can be trusted鈥 has fallen from 46 percent in 1972 to 31 percent last year, the Journal notes.
There鈥檚 a lot of talk about an emerging 鈥渢rust economy.鈥 Trust that you can rent a complete stranger鈥檚 room. Trust that, because a friend gave a sandwich maker five stars, it must be good. Truth is, trust has always been essential to free economies. In that light, the most important American deficit right now might be one of trust 鈥 in one another.聽