We speak with Gerald Friedman about the growing economic gap between the poorer states in the U.S. and the wealthier coastal regions. Gerald Friedman is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Professor Friedman has research interests in the areas of economic history, specifically 19th- and 20th-century France and the US; political economies; and the economics of healthcare. He has drafted financing plans for single-payer healthcare systems, and has served on the editorial boards of several academic journals.