July 03, 2012

Capital Flight, In Action

Observations from Walter Russell Mead:
New York has some of the bluest laws and policies around. But the net result isn’t a city that becomes more and more prosperously and stably blue. The result is a city from which the middle class is steadily exiled. The bluer you are, the more likely you are to turn into a wealth-polarized dystopia of tycoons and hotel maids.
Thanks to the financial bubble and the huge federal bailout, New York has managed relatively well for the last few years. But it’s very hard to see what jobs will replace the Wall Street mid-level positions—and where the tax revenue will come from to support the city’s huge bureaucracy and high fixed costs.
The blue social model devours its own.
I think San Francisco may be ahead of them.