"Detroit Nears Bankruptcy"

Walter Russell Mead asks: " . . . if you can’t learn from Detroit, what can you learn from?"

Comments

[Ted Craig]

This will be the second major example of welfare-state failure in our fair state (GM being the first).

[JorgXMcKie]

I not only have a ringside seat, I have students who live/work in Detroit and some who work for the city.

The level of unreality about what the problem is and what can or must be done is simply staggering. This is true, usually, of even the best, most thoughtful students.

Almost to a person, Detroit supporters of all races believe that the cause of the trouble is "outsiders" [which usually, but not always, means white suburban types] and Detroit being "cheated" out of tax dollars. You hear those actual words over and over and over . . .

Their "solution" is always the same: put at least hundreds of millions [or, preferably, billions] of "new money" [i.e. tax dollars] into city services and "re-building" stuff [infra-structure and real property] and awed newcomers will flock to Detroit and all will be well. And don't change anything else except to hire more "Detroiters" in the city government and programs.

It's not what Detroit is and has been doing wrong, it's evil-doers outside trying to bring Detroit down.

Sigh.

[TheBigHenry]

"..., what can you learn from?"

Perhaps California?

[kyle8]

Jorg, This is almost a classic example of fascist economics. In a fascist system the major players, in this case the big auto makers and their subsidiaries, The big union, and the local government (one Party of course), Conspired to use the public domain and their political muscle to get thing their way.

Which they did, for several decades. But fascism is unsustainable as it is a adjunct to Marxism, and as Lady Thatcher said, the problem is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.

[jorod]

This is largely a result of HUD/government housing policies of the 1960s and 70s,which were exacerbated by the subprime housing policies of the 2000s. The result was that the middle class was picked up and moved to the suburbs, leaving the poor, welfare recipients behind. What we have is urban removal in place of urban renewal. However, the media and the Progressive narrators prefer to blame it on racism.