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  1. JB says

    This is a very forward-thinking piece. Stopping rural population decline by keeping rural populations in place, although it seems obvious, runs a bit contrary to the prevailing mantra in the United States. For example, many analysts are quick to blame the national housing crisis — and, to some extent, rural outmigration — on things like lack of turnover (migration) and decreased mobility. But when has it ever been the case that mobility and turnover has ameliorated net outmigration from rural regions? If we truly want to stem rural outmigration (though the jury is out on whether this is in our economic best interest, even for rural economies), then interventions like deed restrictions and credit programs (e.g., land banks) are how we do that. Interventions to induce migration, like subsidising job markets and recruitment, have not borne themselves out.

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