CHANGES IN THE LOCUS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE SOUTH TALK AT AAEA MEETING

THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY A MASSIVE EXODUS OF PEOPLE FROM THE RURAL AREAS TO THE CITIES. FOLLOWING WW II, 'MEM WAS INCREASED EMPHASIS UPON THE EXPANSION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES WERE INTRODUCED INTO FARMING. CAPITAL WAS SUBSTITUTED FOR LABOR IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AT AN UNPRECEDENTED RAM. THE STRUCTURAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY IN FARMING BROUGHT ABOUT A RAPID DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF FARMS AND THE NUMBER OF SMALL BUSINESSES IN SERVICE CENTERS FOR RURAL AREAS. THE RESULTANT FLOW OF PEOPLE FRCM THE RURAL AREAS TO 'IIIE MAJOR METROPOLITAN CENTERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTED ONE OF THE LARGEST MIGRATIONS IN HISTORY