Question A: Rising inequality in Ohio is slowing state economic growth.
Question A: Rising inequality in Ohio is slowing state economic growth.
Question A: Rising inequality in Ohio is slowing state economic growth.
Question A: Rising inequality in Ohio is slowing state economic growth.
| Economist | Institution | Opinion | Confidence | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jonathan andreas | Bluffton University | Uncertain | 5 | I expect that rising inequality WILL slow growth in Ohio, but I doubt that we can know whether it IS already slowing growth at current levels. One of the ways that inequality hurts growth is by degrading institutions and human capital (see Acemoglu and Robinson and the resource curse literature). That effect takes a while to show up in the data. However, there are lots of other reasons to want to reduce inequality and the fact that it is hard to see any short-term relationship between growth and inequality in developed-nations means that we can probably reduce inequality without reducing short-term growth. Plus, it could boost long-term growth depending on how it is done. |
| Bizuayehu Bedane | Marietta College | Uncertain | 8 | |
| David Brasington | University of Cincinnati | Disagree | 7 | |
| Kevin Egan | University of Toledo | Strongly Agree | 10 | Rising inequality is not only slowing the states' economic growth, you can even see it in life expectancy. Ohio ranks 42nd nationally for life expectancy and is the worst-ranked of the ten most populous states. As axios.com reports ("Ohio's life expectancy among the worst in U.S., Alissa Widman Neese, 2/17/22, axios.com) there is a "massive gap between residents of Franklinton, the census tract with the lowest life expectancy in Ohio (60), and Stow, a northeast Ohio suburb with the highest (89.2)." High income-high education-high tax base areas do well but at the expense of lower income-lower education-lower tax base areas and the end result is the state overall is pulled down. Truly we are all in this together as every household is workers, especially investments in children as future workers and Ohio has a child poverty rate of 19% which is double the child poverty rate of some other states. We could choose many efficient and fair policies to reverse this, beginning with reducing child poverty rates. |
| Kenneth Fah | Ohio Dominican University | Agree | 8 | |
| Hasan Faruq | Xavier University | Agree | 9 | |
| Paul Holmes | Ashland University | Uncertain | 6 | My gut says 'agree' but I don't think the evidence is clear. I think it also depends on what we mean by 'growth'; GDP per capita could be increased by inequality while median household income could be decreased, for example. |
| Faria Huq | Lake Erie College | Agree | 8 | |
| Michael Jones | University of Cincinnati | Uncertain | 5 | |
| Fadhel Kaboub | Denison University | Strongly Agree | 10 | The empirical literature is very clear on the negative impact that inequality has on economic growth. The most impactful pro-growth policies are the ones that invest in education, health, infrastructure, and job creation opportunities for the bottom half of the income ladder. |
| Charles Kroncke | Mount Saint Joseph University | Disagree | 6 | |
| Trevon Logan | Ohio State University | Agree | 8 | |
| Michael Myler | University of Mount Union | Uncertain | 2 | |
| Joe Nowakowski | Muskingum University | Agree | 9 | |
| Curtis Reynolds | Kent State University | Uncertain | 5 | |
| Lewis Sage | Baldwin Wallace University | Uncertain | 3 | Because the term "economic growth" is undefined, it's hard to have a defensible opinion. |
| Dean Snyder | Antioch College | Strongly Agree | 8 | Economic inequality has been a major cause of stagnation. Consumer debt has been on the rise since 2013 and wages have not kept pace with inflation. Target’s recent announcement of a 90% plunge in profits shows how central consumer buying power is to the U.S. and Ohio economies. Debt-financed consumption is a weak driver of economic growth. |
| Kay E. Strong | Independent | Strongly Agree | 10 | Income inequality is a statement about the extent to which income is distributed unevenly among households. The existence of poverty is an indicator of how extreme income inequality has become. |
| Thomas Traynor | Wright State University | Disagree | 8 | |
| Ejindu Ume | Miami University | Strongly Agree | 9 | |
| Andy Welki | John Carroll University | Disagree | 8 | |
| Rachel Wilson | Wittenberg University | Agree | 10 |