Western Wayne Today

A British think tank’s study revealed that the U.S. experienced record prosperity just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Legatum Institute’s United States Prosperity Index (USPI), which was released on July 15, showed that the U.S.’s prosperity was at its highest peak in a decade in the first quarter of 2020, not all 50 states experienced the same thing.

The Center Square reported that the Midwest was evidence of such a development.

Legatum Director of Metrics Shaun Flanagan told the publication that while the region’s prosperity resembles that of the nation, a closer look determined that not all Midwestern states performed the same way.

Flanagan said Minnesota was the most prosperous state in the region, but it was registered a low showing in terms of personal freedom. Missouri was the Midwest’s least-prosperous state, while Michigan experienced a boost in prosperity because of improvements in leadership and academics.

The USPI additionally showed that education and living conditions in the country have improved since 2010, but physical and mental health proved problematic at the same time, a finding underscored by a rise in drug overdoses and suicides among those in the 16-to-64 age group during the past decade.

Flanagan told The Center Square that when it came to social capital, the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships, the Midwest’s decline was not as dramatic as other states’ but pointed out it does not have an open economy.

“The lived experience of residents as measured through living conditions, health, education and the natural environment is broadly the same in the Midwest as the rest of the U.S.,” he told the publication.

Legatum attributed the U.S.’s pre-coronavirus prosperity to a rise in open economies and low unemployment figures.