Comments on: Young, Gifted, and Black http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/ A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months... Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:43:24 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jim Howard http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72590 Jim Howard Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:56:37 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72590 The really sad thing is that the country seems on course to elect a President who will do for the rest of the country what the Democrats have done for Newark. The really sad thing is that the country seems on course to elect a President who will do for the rest of the country what the Democrats have done for Newark.

]]> By: MD http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72580 MD Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:17:18 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72580 SuperMike, Thank you for the link to the Cato Institute story. There are no easy solutions to problems associated with the poor and dysfunctional. As the owner of a rather diverse group of real estate holdings (high end and low end) I can attest to the fact that simply adding more money to problems doesn't seem to add any real help to the larger problems. To get to the solution of any problem you trace it to it's origin, and most kid's issues begin with a very poor and or disfunctional familial situation. This may be old hat but it's true: Kids are what they are based on(the majority of the time) their local environs and the people they are raised around. It's a birthright... or "wrong". SuperMike,
Thank you for the link to the Cato Institute story. There are no easy solutions to problems associated with the poor and dysfunctional.
As the owner of a rather diverse group of real estate holdings (high end and low end) I can attest to the fact that simply adding more money to problems doesn’t seem to add any real help to the larger problems.
To get to the solution of any problem you trace it to it’s origin, and most kid’s issues begin with a very poor and or disfunctional familial situation.
This may be old hat but it’s true:
Kids are what they are based on(the majority of the time) their local environs and the people they are raised around. It’s a birthright… or “wrong”.

]]> By: N http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72404 N Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:36:08 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72404 Just because there are nearby towns with less crime and similar transportation assets Newark should be written off? I have been almost all over NJ but Newark truly frightened me - it really is a different world and I don't think it is possible to imagine what it is like. His interview with New Yorker magazine was inspirational. One question I could not find an answer was why did manufacturing leave after the war? It does not make sense. The problem with cutting taxes and reducing government bureaucracy is that that will only work if the city is otherwise a good place to live and work. Why would I move into a city where I have a high probability of becoming a victim just to pay less taxes. Why would I open a business in where nobody will live or work? He has to rebuild the city and find all ways to generate revenue. Cory Booker is only 18 months into his administration. If he makes any significant changes in 10 years he will be an incredible success. Who else would take on such an entrenched administration? If he wanted to be young, gifted and black he could have gone to Wall Street. Just because there are nearby towns with less crime and similar transportation assets Newark should be written off?

I have been almost all over NJ but Newark truly frightened me – it really is a different world and I don’t think it is possible to imagine what it is like. His interview with New Yorker magazine was inspirational.

One question I could not find an answer was why did manufacturing leave after the war? It does not make sense.

The problem with cutting taxes and reducing government bureaucracy is that that will only work if the city is otherwise a good place to live and work. Why would I move into a city where I have a high probability of becoming a victim just to pay less taxes. Why would I open a business in where nobody will live or work? He has to rebuild the city and find all ways to generate revenue.

Cory Booker is only 18 months into his administration. If he makes any significant changes in 10 years he will be an incredible success. Who else would take on such an entrenched administration?

If he wanted to be young, gifted and black he could have gone to Wall Street.

]]> By: philg http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72363 philg Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:27:20 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72363 Thanks, Mike. That was an interesting article, albeit disheartening. Adding to the depressing nature of the story is that the article itself proposes few concrete solutions and those are put off to the very end. Thanks, Mike. That was an interesting article, albeit disheartening. Adding to the depressing nature of the story is that the article itself proposes few concrete solutions and those are put off to the very end.

]]> By: SuperMike http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72354 SuperMike Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:06:57 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72354 What you describe may not be the root of the problem. I work in software, and I'm surrounded by hypercompetent people educated in third-world countries. Obviously, they're exceptional people, but they came from systems with fewer resources than even that of Newark. Is Newark really resource-constrained? The abstract describes a corrupt political culture; it's possible that corruption has the ability to absorb any extra resources that could conceivably be sent to repair the problems. This article documents a case where they (without lowering the salaries of the bureaucrats) were able to add immense resources to an awful school system to little positive effect: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html Kind of depressing reading. What you describe may not be the root of the problem. I work in software, and I’m surrounded by hypercompetent people educated in third-world countries. Obviously, they’re exceptional people, but they came from systems with fewer resources than even that of Newark. Is Newark really resource-constrained? The abstract describes a corrupt political culture; it’s possible that corruption has the ability to absorb any extra resources that could conceivably be sent to repair the problems.
This article documents a case where they (without lowering the salaries of the bureaucrats) were able to add immense resources to an awful school system to little positive effect: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html
Kind of depressing reading.

]]> By: philg http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72290 philg Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:27:03 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72290 Reducing the size of the city bureaucracy is surely a good idea, but remember that the city is still on the hook for pensions of workers from the past 50 years. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is not available to cities so those pension obligations cannot be shed in a reorganization. Whoever still lives in Newark will have to pay whatever it costs (i.e., if there were only one person left living in the city, he or she could technically be liable for a $50 million per year property tax bill or however much it cost to pay the city's debts). A town in the South or Southwest should be able to offer lower tax rates and better services because it doesn't have to pay debts from the past. (Newark, of course, gets some benefit from having existing infrastructure and not having to build roads, sewers, etc., but these benefits are probably outweighed by the financial burden of 50 years of corrupt and inefficient government.) Reducing the size of the city bureaucracy is surely a good idea, but remember that the city is still on the hook for pensions of workers from the past 50 years. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is not available to cities so those pension obligations cannot be shed in a reorganization. Whoever still lives in Newark will have to pay whatever it costs (i.e., if there were only one person left living in the city, he or she could technically be liable for a $50 million per year property tax bill or however much it cost to pay the city’s debts).

A town in the South or Southwest should be able to offer lower tax rates and better services because it doesn’t have to pay debts from the past. (Newark, of course, gets some benefit from having existing infrastructure and not having to build roads, sewers, etc., but these benefits are probably outweighed by the financial burden of 50 years of corrupt and inefficient government.)

]]> By: anon4rp http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/comment-page-1/#comment-72286 anon4rp Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:05:55 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2008/02/06/young-gifted-and-black/#comment-72286 Theoretically one could reduce the size of the city bureaucracy, reduce the tax burden and minimize red tape. I would expect such a course of action to revitalize business interest. It's incredibly inefficient, not to mention unjust, to tax people for the end goal of just giving their money back to them, less the not insignificant costs of running the entire process... Why not just cut spending drastically, reduce taxes, and get government mostly out of the way, so that business development will choose Newark over competing cities. And with business will come new residents, who will create demand for new businesses, which will bring in even more new residents... Theoretically one could reduce the size of the city bureaucracy, reduce the tax burden and minimize red tape. I would expect such a course of action to revitalize business interest.

It’s incredibly inefficient, not to mention unjust, to tax people for the end goal of just giving their money back to them, less the not insignificant costs of running the entire process… Why not just cut spending drastically, reduce taxes, and get government mostly out of the way, so that business development will choose Newark over competing cities. And with business will come new residents, who will create demand for new businesses, which will bring in even more new residents…

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