Neil Freiman

and most are shrinking.

okay so let's go to that good segue toby i set you up i said you set me up what where is growing in the united states which populations which areas are seeing more people and that is mostly in the south among counties with populations of at least 20 000 people nine of the ten fastest growing were in the south i guess not miami uh which you can say you can debate whether that's the south or not but the cities that are growing at four times the national rate or more

are places like Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, Ocala, Florida, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, North Carolina, and then others that really aren't in the south but are more in the Mountain West, Boise, Idaho, and St.

George, Utah.

So they're bucking the trend.

But overall, these curbs on immigration are really denting the population growth.

And even for most large cities, they're sending their populations downward.

But in this metaphor, you are looking at a very wobbly stool.

Right.

Well, here's the thing.

The United States has always had this immigration cushion.

We've talked a lot about demographic crisis facing places in East Asia, like South Korea, where deaths are outnumbering births and are not having enough babies to replace their

population.

But they don't have the immigration that the United States has always had.

People have always flocked to the United States from other countries.

And now it looks like that is drying up.

And we're relying more on people having more babies as opposed to dying.

And that is not doing well in the United States.

So it's something that demographers are going to be watching closely.

Welcome to Stock of the Week, Dog of the Week, the segment where Toby and I pick one stock that's blooming like a cherry blossom and another that's wilting like an uncared-for houseplant.