There’s a new book that says many Americans are stuck, locked into jobs, rooted where they live, and frozen at the salary they’re making.
That's what economist Tyler Cowen says in his new book 'The Complacent Class.' Patrick Jankowski at the Greater Houston Partnership says something interesting is going on; if Americans are moving, they seem to be coming here to Houston.
“Even with the weak economy we had people moving here in 2015 and 2016. It’s not quite at the rate of the boom, but we still have a net influx of population every year,” Jankowski explained.
But he also says if you're not moving; if you're stuck like Cowen writes, there are many reasons for it.
“Job growth has not been as strong we’d like. Part of it is people don’t want to leave their family behind, and part of it is that people don’t want to move to a place that’s more expensive,” Jankowski said.
Jankowski also thinks that there is still a psychological hangover from the Great Recession, and that people are afraid to take chances after what happened a decade ago.
We wanted to talk to Cowen about his theory, but he declined KTRH's interview request.