Megan McArdle has an interesting, almost painfully poignant, post about the futility and disutility of trying to save the Rust Belt (this, in the context of discussing the automakers' bailout). She discusses "the Other Rust Belt," western New York, where her mother's family comes from. Excerpt:
But it doesn't matter. These vital towns, where generations of people lived happy lives and raised fat, burbling babies to a middle-class adulthood, are all dying. Should the government save these places too? Shall we support Eastman Kodak indefinitely, whether or not it can produce a product anyone wants to buy? And Xerox, and Carrier, and a thousand companies you've never heard of? Shall we make it illegal to make a better product than American corporations? Why not just ban new products that make old ones unprofitable?To do that, we'll have to take the money from other people, in other cities. Other businesses will not get the capital that we give to dying firms, so they won't expand. Some other families, not yours, will lose their homes because their business failed, or have to move away from home in order to get jobs because their area is in the doldrums. Meanwhile, everyone in the country will be slightly worse off, because we've shifted limited economic resources towards products they demonstrably do not want.
I love western New York, which may be the most beautiful place on earth. I love the old cities, the Victorian shells that whisper of much happier days, and the broad, rolling hills, and the broad flat accents of the people who live on them. I love waterfalls softly falling downtown and the Buffalo City Hall. I love the place as you can only love somewhere that your family has been living for 200 years. I would save it if I could.
But I can't save it. Pouring government money in has been tried . . . and tried, and tried, and tried. It props up the local construction business, or some company, for a few more years, and then slowly drains away. Western New York has been the lucky recipient of largesse from a generous federal government, a flush state government, and not a few self-made men with happy memories of a childhood there. And still, it dies.
It would appear, then, that any money the federal government pours into saving Detroit, which has been failing -- and failing to save itself -- for 30 years, is money that can't be used to help regions and portions of the economy that are actually viable. What does America owe the Rust Belt? What does the Rust Belt owe America? Seriously.
Similarly, if Obama continues our boondoggle agriculture policies to boost the Corn Belt states, and to pay off his Corn Belt supporters, we arguably all suffer in the long run. What does America owe the Corn Belt? What does the Corn Belt owe America? Seriously.
I'm not sure what the answers are. But I know the questions have to be asked.
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What is strange in all of this is that when I hear folks saying that we have to let some ships sink in order to save the fleet, it is never THEIR ship that they volunteer to let sink. It is always someone else's.
Consider that so many of those who complain about farm subsidies work in fields that are also subsidized or protected in some other way by the government. Many areas of manufacturing are protected by tariff or trade restrictions. The finance and banking industries are protected and supported by the Fed (and of late by $700 billion of taxpayers money). Thousands upon thousands of small business operators receive subsidized loans from the Small Business Administration.
Forgive me, but I'll start listening to this "let the boat sink" argument when someone offers up their own boat as the one that should sink. Until then, sorry...not playing the game.
RJohnson, that's just good old fashioned survival instinct talking. It doesn't invalidate the need for sacrifice. If I commanded the fleet you imagine, I'd expect reports on all the ships, including from their captains, justifying their retention. I'd then make the difficult, but necessary, decision of which ship(s) to allow to sink. Just because nobody wants their own ship to sink doesn't mean it shouldn't or that avoiding doing so won't endanger the whole fleet.
It's not much of a stretch to think that at some point, whoever's left in those regions are going to ask, "what do we owe America?" if they continue to wither while Washington looks on.
Yeah, that's kind of what happened to Western Europe as the Roman Empire collapsed. People realized that they couldn't count on the central government for protection any more, and then realized that, consequently, they didn't feel any particular sense of loyalty to it any more, either.
MWorrell -- I'm from Akron originally, and I can remember when Goodyear was the largest employer in town. Now it's the University of Akron. You're right, without the University, Akron would be in deep trouble. Still, Akron seems to have fared better, proportionally, than Cleveland or Youngstown.
Steve K, NYC provides the lion's share of NYS tax revenue. And don't think revenue gleaned from NYC taxes hasn't been pumped into Upstate New York. It's just that prisons have turned out not to be the savior of the Upstate economy afte all.
I read somewhere that at the time of the Reformation in England Henry and his ministers decided that the old Catholic tradition of eating fish on fridays should be continued. The reason wasn't theological but practical. Friday fish meant many fishermen, which meant many seamen, which meant ample manpower for the navy. Wise and prudent nations don't let the foundations of their power and safety go to hell. Business people generally do, at least ours do.
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