Font size:
Progressives gathered in Detroit this summer at the Netroots Nation annual conference. The city’s bankruptcy was a recurring topic and participants shelled blame onto the state and big banks. But a group of free-market think tanks also gathered to set the record straight.
The counter-conference was organized by State Budget Solutions and the Manhattan Institute. State Budget Solutions is a national group that focuses on fiscal policy issues facing state and local governments.
The Manhattan Institute has been a national leader on providing solutions for municipal government problems.
It was not the only time that the Manhattan Institute has been involved in Detroit. The group provided advice and consultation to the Detroit Police Department to assist in reducing crime. It helped launch a program in the Grandmont and Rosedale neighborhoods that helped decrease home invasions by 26 percent.
Together, they hosted events showing the positive things occurring in Detroit. A first panel moderated by Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley covered the improvements to the city’s policing, better coordination on the city council, and the increased investment.
Finley began by stating that previous efforts to revitalize Detroit fell short. What’s different this time, he stated, was that this effort is market-driven instead of being centrally planned.
“The people driving this investment believe there is going to be a real payoff,” he stated.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig mentioned that robberies are down roughly 40 percent from last year.
A second panel talked about the lessons struggling municipalities around the country can learn from Detroit. The Mackinac Center’s James Hohman talked about how states need to monitor their local governments and guide units approaching insolvency away.
Steve Eide from the Manhattan Institute worried that Detroit’s bankruptcy may encourage other cities to enter bankruptcy because of its size and expected success. Andrew Moylan of the R Street Institute said that in Detroit and other cities the human capital can transform its economy. The Illinois Policy Institute’s Ted Dabrowski talked about how Detroit’s private-sector revival ought to inspire Chicago.
Also helping to get the word out and getting journalists involved were the State Policy Network and the Franklin Center. These groups helped take journalists on a tour of some of their neighborhoods where private individuals and organizations are working together to address their needs.
