Poor men south of Richmond? Why much of the rural South is in economic crisis
- Written by: Peter A. Coclanis, Professor of History; Director of the Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
For a brief moment in the summer of 2023, the surprise No. 1 song “Rich Men North of Richmond” focused the country’s attention on a region that often gets overlooked in discussions of the U.S. economy. Although the U.S. media sometimes pays attention to the rural South — often concentrating on guns, religion and opioid...
