…of Detroit:
In 1950, Detroit was the wealthiest city in America on a per capita income basis. Today, the Census Bureau reports that it is the nation’s 2nd poorest major city, just “edging out” Cleveland.
Could it be pure coincidence that the decline occurred over the same period in which union power, the city government bureaucracy, taxes and business regulations all multiplied? While correlation is not causation, it is striking that the decline in per capita income is exactly what classical economists predict would occur when wage controls are imposed and taxes are increased.
Yes, ignore theory, and ignore empirical evidence. It’s the Democrats’ war on science.
[Update a few minutes later]
This seems related: The Washington Metro — a failure of central planning.
Any time I hear a program or policy described as “progressive”, I ask “progressive towards what?” Often the answer is “progressive towards ruin.”
“Creative destruction.”
More progress!!
Ignore theory, ignore empirical evidence…don’t forget ignore accountability for the outcome
Detroit suffered an economic collapse. Pittsburgh suffered the same economic collapse as Detroit did. Pittsburgh is a great place to live today. Detroit is a hellhole.
Q. What is the primary difference between these two cities?
We all know the answer. But we can’t say it. We can’t even allow ourselves to think it. Because to even admit such a thought to ourselves means calling into question certain “truths” we have been compelled to accept and internalise over the past fifty years. And that is dangerous. If we allow even the slightest doubt about these “truths” to dwell in our minds, we risk becoming Them — the haters, the Worst People In The World. We risk losing our carefully-constructed personae of righteousness. We risk becoming one of the Bad Guys. We risk becoming evil.
We dare not run that risk. And so we close our eyes to the truth, even if it means denying the reality we all see with our own eyes every day.
Feel free to damn me for my opinion. It won’t change a thing. Reality is what it is, and the unthinkable truth is nonetheless true.
Political correctness consists of knowing what we can’t say, and who we can’t say it about.
Here’s something that is so far beyond political correctness that, to the politically-correct, it is like a dog-whistle of truth about what went wrong in Detroit and every other city controlled by democrat-socialist-progressives.
Newt Gingrich– scroll to “MICHIGAN MUST CHANGE OR DIE”
http://newtgingrich360.com/profiles/blogs/2012-victory-or-death-newt-s-speeches-links-to-17-speeches