Interesting op-ed from Ross Douthat of the NYT. Following up recent proposals by Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Matthew Yglesias of Vox to move government agencies away from DC and to other communities instead, Douthat takes it a step further:
General ideas proposed in the column:
-Move various government agencies (Regulatory bodies, various health and science administrations) to cities in need of revitalization like Cleveland, Detroit, or Milwaukee.
-Tax the endowments of large universities heavily, and offer exemptions for schools that open up satellite campuses in areas with below average median incomes (An MIT branch in Flint, a Stanford campus in Buffalo, ect.)
-Non-profits are only given a full tax exemption if they show that they are employing workers from low-income states and cities.
-Tax credits for businesses that open up in struggling areas.
-State and local tax deductions capped, ideally forcing upper class residents to move away from cities and suburbs with high costs of living + high tax rates.
-Change the FTC mandate so that it considers geographical concentration as a form of indication of monopoly.
-Expand PBS's funding for smaller, local public radio stations.
-Create a new Corporation for Local News, dedicated to funding small-town newspapers, and fund it with a surtax on large media corporations based in DC and NYC.
Douthat himself calls his proposal far-fetched and implausible. But I'm honestly not seeing a lot of flaws in this idea. Thoughts?
