Reason magazine is trying to put a few ideas to the test in Cleveland. Of course they go after government, but they have an important piece of the puzzle. Here are a few of their suggestions:
1. Make it easier to attract business to Cleveland. Zoning laws, permits, and city councils may mean well, but they ignore what created the city in the first place: Rapid economic growth through industry. Building new stadiums and a new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are nice, but won’t drive the growth that made Cleveland. They use Houston as an example of a low-regulation city.
2. Education: Try charter schools. Loosen the grip of the teacher’s union upon what are admittedly underperforming schools. The problems the unions and school districts face in the city (hungry kids, violent kids, desperate for attention kids, the sons and daughters of those originally looking for economic opportunity kids and now adrift with few skills and opportunities) may be best served otherwise.
3. Potentially privatize public sector oversight of parking, maintenance, and management of public spaces.
Also On This Site: Of course, there are real economic problems, but what to do about them is unclear (hipster progressives unite, it’s all a “narrative”): From The Atlantic: Richard Florida’s ‘How The Crash Will Reshape America’…it’s all about class don’t you know: From The Atlantic: Richard Florida On The Decline Of The Blue-Collar Man
At least someone might be buying the houses, and some good art could even come of it, but there’s a kind of a anti-establishment tone (mixing art and politics in a questionable way): artists buying cheap houses in Detroit.
Liberaltarianism?: Will Wilkinson And Jonah Goldberg On Bloggingheads: Updating Libertarianism?…From Reason’s Hit And Run: What Kind Of Libertarian Are You?
