Time to Surender

Lyndon Johnson, the story goes, once delivered a speech in New York on the Great Society. Just as he declared America was engaged “in nothing less than an all-out war on poverty,” a small voice from the crowd replied, “Mr. President, we surrender.”

By the mid-1970s it became glaringly apparent that the Great Society efforts to uplift inner city areas were not just a failure, but exacerbated problems. But 30 years later, New Jersey state government continues its heroic efforts in Camden, at a high price in people and dollars. (This is a city where the mayor, upon hearing that Camden had dropped from America's first to its third most dangerous city, exclaimed "You made my day!")

In Manhattan, the only way to tell the post-war luxury towers from the projects of the same era is the color of the brick—the wealthy painted it white. Also, that the poor housing tended to be close to the waterfront (often with spectacular views on the higher floors) which then seemed undesirable for living. Chicago's new "stigma-smasher" is still another attempt to pretend that it's the housing that makes the people, instead of the other way around.

All of which illustrates the optimism—I'd almost say religious belief—inherent in the word "project," and the danger in using the power of the government to tamper with human nature.

Es Tu, Spitzer?

In today's Wall Street Journal OpEd [subscriber's only link] on threats to New York's status as the world's financial capital, Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Schumer list "four factors that bear close attention: globalization of the capital markets, overregulation, frivolous litigation and incompatible accounting standards," and call for a reassessment of the "balance of innovation and regulation."

So far, so good, but what all four points have in common is that they're outside of the power of New York City or State to address—and what the leaders omit from their essay is as important to New York's future as a financial captal as what they address. Here, then, are four more factors unmentioned by the senator and mayor that they should consider:

1) Eliot Spitzer is about to be elected governnor based largely on the name he made for himself as state Attorney General: The Sheriff of Wall Street. Will Governor Spitzer watch out for New York's most important economic sector, or continue to play sometimes overbearing watchdog?

2) New York City and State both tax Wall Street to the hilt to fill the coffers and support their super-sized governments. Regulatory reform is well and good; why not reform the economic climate as well to create a more appealing place to do business?

3) While London and Hong Kong are addressed, there's no mention of the Chicago merger, and the domestic threat it poses to New York's continued supremacy.

4) Terror. Obviously, terror and the fear of terror effect all business capitals. That said, it does seem an odd omission.

Here's hoping that in addition to pushing the feds for change, New York's leaders are looking at what they can do to help themselves.

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Chicago Follies

The question remains: Will Chicago's gains outlive current Mayor Richard M. Daley, who's now gearing up to run for an unprecedented sixth term?

Even as the city has thrived, Plunktt-ism has continued unabated, which makes it a telling day for Dorothy Eng, the Executive Director of Chicago's Board of Ethics to suddenly resign, after five terms serving with Mayor Daley, according to a piece entitled "Head of paper-tiger ethics board quits" in today's Sun-Times that absolutely drips with contempt for Eng and her office.