Drew Carey Saves Cleveland: Cleveland Declines to be Saved

Reason, the libertarian organization recently did a series of videos called Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey. There can be little doubt in the minds of Ohioans that Cleveland needs saving. As a result of the videos, members of Cleveleand city council, too their credit, invited Drew Carey and Nick Gillespie of Reason to sit down and discuss the videos. Reason Magazine carries a reports complete with transcript of that meeting. It is well worth reading.

The bottom line is that the members of city council blame Cleveland's problems on everyone else: the federal government, the state government, businesses that leave and people that leave. They don't see that running golf courses and the West Market are really beyond their scope as a unit of government. They think government should do it be cause government is more fair.

Fair? Nothing is more fair that the free market. A free market does not care about the color of skin or the pace of worship. The free market care about cost, demand and efficiency. (This is in the aggregate. Yes, there can be pockets of discrimination, which are always ultimately doomed due to free market pressures.)

These members of Cleveland City Council appear bafflingly dense toward any actual solutions to the Cleveland' economic problems that are well within their grasp, and to some extent within their range of persuasion (e.g. urging more charter schools in the Cleveland City School District).

It is sad really. Their attitude seems to be, "We know what we are doing is not working, so we need to do more of the same."

See if you read their comments as I do, at the link above. Judge for yourself.