Woo Beekley

"if Appalachia was a third world nation for white people" You'd get an economy roughly the size of Spain's, divided among half as many people, giving you a GDP per capita comparable to Finland or Canada. Finance & manufacturing are the top industries (15.6% & 14.1% of regional GDP, respectively). Note the irrelevance of tourism (3% of GDP) compared to other 'third world nations.' Appalachistan would have a slightly lower Gini coefficient (less income inequality) than the U.S. as a whole. The unemployment rate is ~4%, comparable to the rest of the U.S. & half of France's. Counting associates degrees + bachelors, Appalachistan would have a tertiary educational attainment rate of 39%, higher than the EU. Counting bachelor's degrees only (4 yrs in the U.S. vs. 3 yrs in the EU, so biased toward EU), Appalachistan's educational attainment is comparable to Germany (29% vs 30%).