Moneyball author Michael Lewis wrote a great piece in Vanity Fair about a scary problem in America: the growing inability of municipalities to pay for basic services like firemen, schools, and public works. He examines it at its worse in California, where the people want more and more, except they don’t want to pay for it. While the causes are numerous, the big one is actually the greediness of the public workers, who take all they can in salary, benefits, and pension without regard for the long-term. It’s almost as bad as what people are doing on Wall St. Maybe worse, since you’d expect it out of bankers, not policemen. The result is cities that are bankrupt. It’s only going to get worse. This is a must-read.
Rainman Suite 