There's an Economic Boom in the South, Y'all

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Good morning,

Today is the Black Friday of July.

Happy Amazon Prime Day to those who celebrate! Today begins two days of Prime sales.

And, if you are more of a Walmart+ person, your three days of festivities also begin today.

Also, don’t forget that today is 7/11 and you are entitled to a free slurpee!

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 THE SOUTH’S BIG BOOM

For the first time, six of the fastest growing states in the South — Florida, Texas, George, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — are now contributing more to the United States’ national economic output (Growth Domestic Product) than the Northeast region that runs from DC up to Maine.

The combined GDP of those six southern states surpassed the combined GDP of the 11 northern states, according to new numbers from the IRS.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
The southern states are driving what’s being dubbed by Bloomberg News as a “$100 billion wealth migration.” A flood of business transplants helped to bring $100 billion in new income to the Southeast in 2020 and 2021 alone. During the same time frame, the Northeast lost about $60 billion.

The move south has been happening gradually for two decade, but the shift accelerated during the pandemic and shows no signs of reversing.

TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS
With businesses bringing more jobs South — the people followed. Census Bureau numbers from May show that the South is now home to 9 of the nation's 15 fastest-growing cities. Fort Worth, TX ranks number one as the fastest growing city in the country.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE EXODUS?
Better weather, lower taxes, cheaper housing, less regulation (more economic freedom for businesses), growing work opportunities, and all around more space. (After experiencing cramped living quarters in New York during lockdowns, we can’t blame them). The Southeast welcomed about 2.2 million new residents in the past two years. That is the equivalent of the city of Houston moving.

VOTING WITH YOUR FEET
More people moving south is translating to more congressional seats and more political power for the region. The COVID-era moves capped off several decades of a southern migration. Twelve states across the Southeast, including Texas, have collectively added 33 congressional seats over the last 50 years. That is about the same number of seats that the Northeast and Midwest lost over the same period.

The next census is in 2030, and if these trends continue, the region could add another dozen seats.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨 NATION

📌 Larry Nassar, serving prison time for sexually assaulting USA gymnasts, was stabbed multiple times at Florida federal prison (AP)

📌 The U.S. Marine Corps is left without a leader for the first time in 164 years due to one Senator holding up more than 100 promotions (FOX NEWS)

📌 Vermont facing potentially catastrophic flash flooding with impacts not seen since Hurricane Irene in 2011 (FOX WEATHER)

📌 Senators will receive the first-ever classified intelligence briefing on artificial intelligence today (THE HILL)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 King Charles welcomes President Joe Biden to Windsor Castle for first formal meeting of royal reign (CNN)

📌 …Did President Biden breach royal protocol by putting his hand on King Charles' back? The Palace responds (PEOPLE)

📌 Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin met with Russia's Vladimir Putin IN PERSON! after he staged a revolt (BBC)

💵 BUSINESS & TECH

📌 Comedian sue OpenAI ChatGPT over copyright infringement (ENGADGET)

📌 Prime Energy drinks (which have caffeine equivalent to 6 cans of Coke) may face FDA investigation CNN BUSINESS)

📌 Meta’s Threads hits 100 million users in five days (faster than ChatGPT) as Twitter usage falls (REUTERS)

📌 The Elon Musk private jet tracker resurfaces on Threads… and hints Mark Zuckerberg could be next (THE VERGE)

🎥 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Madonna breaks silence after hospitalization for serious bacterial infection and gives new start date for World Tour (PEOPLE)

📌 Aretha Franklin sons fight over will found under sofa (BBC)

📌 Harry Styles appears to become latest musician to be hit by an object while performing onstage (NBC)

📌 Taylor Swift accounts for nearly half of Spotify’s Top 50 after “Speak Now” release (VARIETY)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: JULY 11

• 1804: Vice President Aaron Burr kills former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Hamilton, creator of the first national bank, has been widely popularized in the recent Broadway musical. While not confirmed, it is believed that Hamilton fired his shot into the air, rather than at Burr, in protest.

   

• 1914: Babe Ruth, perhaps the greatest Yankee of all time, makes his MLB Debut for the Boston Red Sox.
  

• 1960: Harper Lee’s iconic book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is published for the first time.

• 1983: Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton premiered. It aired for 23 years until 2006.

• 1995: Shaggy released his breakthrough album ‘Boombastic’.

  His real name: Oliver Burrell