Big-Project Binge Fueled Motor City’s Meltdown

When I hear free-spending national leaders call for more infrastructure investment, I think of Detroit’s absurd People Mover monorail gliding above empty streets. That’s unfair, I know. Yet the city’s epic tragedy, which entered a new stage last week when Mayor Dave Bing lost financial control, provides broader perspective on the potential consequences of mixing economic distress with bad policy making. Here are five somewhat contradictory lessons from the Motor City’s sad history that relate to the larger national debate about America’s future.