WHY ISN’T DETROIT a paradise?

UPDATE: From the comments: “I’m not singling out Michigan and Detroit for condemnation but just using them as the primary examples of the collapse of the area. Fifty years ago, Detroit was the premier industrial city in the entire world. If you’d have told someone in 1957 that in 2007 Detroit would be a basket case, they would have thought you mad. The collapse of the region occurred in a period of less than 15 years (1960-1975). It can happen that fast in the rest of the country if we implement the same policies.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Related thoughts from Rand Simberg.

MORE: Several readers note that Detroit is a paradise for Democratic officeholders, since it keeps reelecting them.