Publication

A New Jersey That Works for Working People

  • November 1, 2017
  • COWS
  • Mel Meder, Satya Rhodes-Conway, Laura Dresser, and Andrew Wolf.

New Jersey’s economy has not recovered from the recession like it could – and should – have. Economic difficulties that began with losses in manufacturing jobs throughout the 1980s have persisted. Despite a diverse population and a shift in land use from sprawling suburban growth to more infill development, job numbers and GDP are growing too slowly. And what growth there is, isn’t distributed equally. New Jersey struggles with extreme racial and economic disparities that distribute the benefits of the economy not as shared prosperity, but to the wealthy.