The reason DC has the highest incomes is because it is the highest educated metro area in the country both in terms of bachelors degrees and advanced degrees. The suburbs are technology capitals (MD with biotech and VA with IT) with more technology workers than the SF area. So while the Fed. govt might be a huge presence in and around the metro area, it is by far not the only thing.

The city also has a great quality of life (parks, museums, sporting events, culture, etc).

Sorry, I just think that that is delusional at best. What incentives do bureacrats have to innovate? Your ideas totally ignore who runs the government and what incentives they have. Risk taking is simply not rewarded in any way, and with no risk-reward link, how exactly is there going to be any innovation?

The most frightening thing about all this is that entrepreneurs are actually abandoning real projects and looking at how they can slant their businesses to profit from the “stimulus”.

My buddy has an IT business, and he’s looking at how he can get a cut of the “stimulus”, instead of going out and finding real customers.

Like I said, frightening.

“sanctioned science”???? Damn, does that send a chill down my spine.

As for the power of states and cities, I disagree. Cities are much more powerful than they’ve ever been as density and place grow in prominence. The concept of regionalism is equally essential to prosperity. Yes, revenues are down, across the board. Yes, some municipalities and states will need treasury assistance. We’re in the worst economic collapse since the ’30’s, what would one expect! But the long-term outlook is much different. Income taxes are at all-time lows and more cuts have been initiated, that equals less federal revenue and more consumption, ie, more sales, real estate and other local and state taxes to be collected in the future; more money being decentralized. In the interim, hopefully we’re laying the groundwork and governmental infrastructure necessary to support the next economic era.

Is the stimulus plan full of pork? Of course it is, especially from the House, these are local politicians bringing back the bacon for their districts; the Senate version will be better. But lots of that spending is on education and infrastructure too. In any event, we could argue the stimulus plan all day but with regard to the overall transformation of government, the effects and consequences have been misconstrued and misstated and the necessity seemingly lost upon some.

So that’s a rebuttal about government. As far as the American overall power center, the Wall Street financial debacle has definitely weakened NYC’s centrality. And Detroit hasn’t been a serious player for decades. But rather than state capitols, I’d still look at LA and NYC as centers of power.

I do, however, quibble with Buzzcut a bit. DC has a little more non-government industry than some think. Marriott, Volkswagen USA, Hilton (soon to be) are headquartered here, for example.

But, the overall point remains valid.

The same should be said for federal government. Let the cities do all they can on their own. Let the states do all they can on their own. Let the federal government undertake only what is left over.

I can’t seem to find the link, but Arnold Kling linked to a study showing that the ‘burbs of DC are now THE highest income areas in America. They have no real industry. They’re where government workers sleep at night.

This has real consequences for the so called stimulus. With all the federal spending in there, it is essentially stimulating an area that already has very little unemployment and lots of people who are already overpaid.

Yeah, that will work.