{"id":43,"date":"2025-05-05T07:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T11:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=43"},"modified":"2025-05-05T12:27:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:27:39","slug":"growth-decline-and-the-price-of-a-coors-light-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/05\/growth-decline-and-the-price-of-a-coors-light-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Growth, Decline, and the Price of a Coors Light \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Fifty years ago, no problem seemed more urgent than unchecked population growth. How times have changed. The downsides of depopulation are front and center, especially in state and local policy circles. Popular wisdom is that the Midwest, Indiana and Hoosier communities are depopulating and at risk of dying out. However, U.S. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/data\/tables\/time-series\/dec\/popchange-data-text.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Census Data<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> offers a more nuanced story.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">From 1970 to 2020, the U.S. population rose from 203 million to 331 million, a 63% increase. From 1970 to 2020, Indiana&#8217;s population grew from 5.2 million to 6.8 million, a 31% increase. Since Indiana&#8217;s growth is less than the nation&#8217;s, Indiana&#8217;s share of the nation&#8217;s population declined.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Looking at Indiana communities with a population over 50,000 in 2020, the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stats.indiana.edu\/population\/poptotals\/historic_counts_cities.asp\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">data reveal<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> seven Indiana cities whose population declined between 1970 and 2020. The aggregate population decline in these cities was 28%, ranging from a 61% decline in Gary to a 6% decline in Muncie. On the other hand, there were ten Indiana cities with a population over 50,000 in 2020 with more residents than in 1970. The aggregate population increase in these cities was 95%, ranging from a 25% gain in Elkhart to a whopping 1391% increase in Carmel.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">There were 15 Indiana cities with a population over 10,000 but under 50,000 in 2020, with fewer residents than in 1970. The aggregate population decline in these cities was 18%, ranging from a 44% decline in East Chicago to a 2% decline in New Albany. But forty-five Indiana cities with a population over 10,000 but under 50,000 in 2020 had more residents than in 1970. The aggregate population increase in these cities was 110%, ranging from a 2% gain in La Porte to a mammoth 2426% increase in Westfield. In other words, there were more winners than losers and more booms than busts.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, being among the losers often leads to greater affordability. A recent study on rental housing costs indicated that at a national level, rental rates per square foot average $1.78. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/munciestarpress-in.newsmemory.com\/?token=65cb96f8840c6f7f8475bfe515bbaf12&amp;cnum=de992258-621d-ec11-a2e4-00505687f187&amp;fod=1111111STD-0&amp;selDate=20230926&amp;licenseType=paid_subscriber&amp;for-guid=77e14bc3-337e-468e-828a-aebf5951269f&amp;utm_source=the-star-press-at-muncie-daily-briefing&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=dailybriefing&amp;utm_term=Header+Nav&amp;utm_content=pmun-e-nletter65\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">They are $0.87 and $0.89 in Muncie and Terre Haute<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Housing in Muncie and Terre Haute is half as expensive as the national average. Recently, at the prodding of one of his students, after a five-year hiatus, Bohanon picked up his golf clubs for nine holes with a cart at a well-maintained course near Muncie. It cost $19 plus $3 for a Coors Light. Even declining towns in the Midwest have their charms.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifty years ago, no problem seemed more urgent than unchecked population growth. How times have changed. The downsides of depopulation are front and center, especially in state and local policy circles. Popular wisdom is that the Midwest, Indiana and Hoosier communities are depopulating and at risk of dying out. However, U.S. Census Data offers a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[440,435,11,437,438,433,434,436,439],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-population","tag-affordability","tag-depopulation","tag-indiana","tag-local-policy","tag-midwest","tag-population","tag-population-growth","tag-state-policy","tag-u-s-census"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Growth, Decline, and the Price of a Coors Light \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/05\/growth-decline-and-the-price-of-a-coors-light-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Growth, Decline, and the Price of a Coors Light \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fifty years ago, no problem seemed more urgent than unchecked population growth. 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