The Economic and Political Migration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Economic and Political Migration - Essay ExampleThe shift to the west was promoted by the federal governments huge wartime defense spending that centered in the western states and most notably California. In addition at that place were tax breaks for the oil industry as well as the social security program that helped keep back the areas growth. Perry and Watkins contend that once the western cities gained the advantage of defense spending, they were able to capitalize on that advantage by the theory of cumulative causation (Walton 409). Perry and Watkins further argue that the sunbelt cities that prospered from this advantage also erected artificial developmental barriers in a shift away from the New Deal liberalism, and this perpetuated the process. (Walton 409). As the rustbelt declined, it was unable to attract new economic activity in the changing face of technology.William Julius Wilson puts forth a more contemporary theory. Wilson states that the cities of the Northeast declined ascribable to economic transformation (8). He describes this as a shift in metropolitan development system that was driven by the change in industry from production ground to capital and technology based (8-9). More modern machines were replacing the methods popularized by Henry Ford. International competition further eroded the cities and weakened the value of physical capital.