Wealth Building in Rural America: Perspective, Knowledge, Outlook is the first in a series

of three reports by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis that focus on wealth building in rural America. Rural areas have, and have always had, immense natural and human assets. However, the social and political will to build upon those assets, the economic base to support their accumulation, and the equity of asset distribution have varied widely throughout history.  The first report in this three part series, Perspective, Knowledge, Outlook, explores the past for insights and perspective on current conditions, while identifying challenges and opportunities for the next phase of rural America’s development.  The second report explores the Potential for Human Diversity in rural regions; and the third report, Programs, Policies, Research: A Policy Guide, explores research on existing wealth building policies and programs in rural America and identifies approaches that are working well and that might serve as models.

“We’ve come to a “dead-end” in rural policy.  The way we do business now, for the most part, is destroying wealth in rural communities.  Exploit the land, extract, pollute, exploit people—this is our policy.  This is what we put most of our resources into, but it is not working.  The creek I fished in as a boy is now heavily polluted with agricultural run-off, and the farmer who owns the land cannot make a living without federal subsidies.  Rural policy should recognize and support new and sustainable opportunities for wealth creation in areas such as alternative energy generation, organic and niche agriculture, “commuting” to work via the internet, and settings for recreation, tourism, and retirement.”

–Michael Sherraden, Ph.D., Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis