Let Detroit Drop Dead!

Not a good idea, in my view, but one that's being put forward by Cliff Mason in a recent blog post at CNBC. He thinks we could take Detroit's potential bailout money and use it to improve public transportation. On its face, better public transportation sounds great, but we're not in a position to trade better subways and buses for a decimated Detroit. In fact, we need not just to save Detroit but to manage its future growth and development through an industrial policy. So we're not just talking about a public bailout of the Big Three Two, we're talking about a need to continue to provide Detroit with taxpayer support. Concessions, of course, should be exacted.