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4 J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare 351 (1976-1977)
New York City and the Economic Crisis

handle is hein.journals/jrlsasw4 and id is 351 raw text is: NEW YORK CITY AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS by Joseph Harris The crisis of New York City and the crises affecting many hundreds of other cities, counties, school districts, and other local and state governments are not accidents. They are a direct result of the neglect that social welfare receives at the hands of a government interested only in furthering the profits and position of the monopolies. Some people call the U.S. government a warfare/welfare state. I prefer to call it a state dominated by the giant corporations which control the economic and hence the political life of our nation. As long as federal policy continues to stress profits before people, the problems afflicting our nation will not be alleviated. Instead, they will worsen. The government insists on a policy of malicious neglect toward workers, racial minorities, the poor, the elderly, the youth, women, children--toward all but the very rich and powerful. The Joint Economic Committee of Congress recently stated: Chronically depressed regional and area economies are characterized by exceptionally high unemployment rates, net losses of private sector jobs, rapidly declining shares of national income, growing percentages of the national poverty population, and deteriorating public and private infrastructure.'l The JEC recognizes that the Northeast especially, but also the Great Lakes and Mid- Atlantic, are becoming chronically depressed. It asks for additional Federal assistance although it realizes that the Federal Government cannot completely off- set the effects of economic decline. Instead, it can only provide stabilization assistance to cushion the impact of decline . . . The JEC suggests a variety of measures to slow the decline, including directing the Federal government to let contracts especially in areas of high unemployment, to establish a development bank, and to provide tax breaks for businesses that invest in depressed areas. What must be emphasized is that the Joint Economic Committee does not feel that the Federal government can stop the decline of the cities. Since it admits that private businesses are deserting the cities in search of higher profits elsewhere, the conclusion is inescapable that the JEC is writing off the depressed cities and regions of the country. Had the JEC engaged in a serious search for funds to rebuild and revitalize the cities, it would have looked at the $100 billion plus defense budget. This is a main source--but not the only source, as we shall see--for funds to overcome the fiscal crisis of the cities. The JEC evidently does not comprehend the scale of the repercussions which will result if the cities of the Northeast, the Great Lakes, and the Mid-Atlantic continue their rapid decline. Tremendous suffering and deprivation, accompanied by social unrest, militancy, mass radicalization, and struggle--the like of which the nation has never experienced--will cause U.S. -351-

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