In this prescient article from 2005, Michael LaFaive details the decades-long problem of corporate welfare, tax-happy politicians, and misaligned incentives and their impact on the Motor City. These problems were identified as early as the 1960s, but no one was listening. Well, now the whole country is watching:
Detroit’s leaders must step away from the failed policies of the past — higher taxes, cumbersome regulation and large, high-profile projects to spur economic growth — and adopt free-market policies that will make the city more inviting to entrepreneurs and, in the process, everyone else.
