The Midwesterner: Blogging the Global Midwest

Privatizing -- yes or no?

The privatization of public services and infrastructure has become one of the hot topics of urban debate. The reason is easy to find: in this new economy, states and cities are strapped for funds, and privatization looks like a very timely windfall.

For experts who have looked at the question of privatization, the verdict so far seems to be -- maybe yes, maybe no. Privatization can be a potent tool not only for raising needed cash but for improving public services. But it's not something to rush into. The fine print must be read.

Privatization isn't exactly new. Margaret Thatcher privatized the British Airports Authority in the '80s. Germany has been privatizing part of its national health system, including hospitals. Formerly socialist governments that once owned the "commanding heights" of their economies have been selling off steel mills, railroads and electric grids for years. The Bush Administration even privatized part of the U.S. military, turning to contractors like Blackwater to do part of our fighting in Iraq.

But the new privatization by cities and states is different. So far, it mostly involves the sale of infrastructure, like highways or airports, or more likely their leasing on long-term contracts. Chicago has been a leader in this with its granting of a 99-year lease for the Chicago Skyway, a bridge connecting the city's south side to the Indiana Toll Road; its failed attempt to lease Midway, one of the city's two main airports, and most controversially, its 75-year lease of the city's parking system.

Where Globalism Lives

In this global era, ranking global cities has become a parlor game for pundits, almost an industry in itself. All cities, it seems, want to be global, and each wants to be more global than the others. To issue a ranking of global cities is to invite debate and dispute which, I guess, is one of the purposes.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has learned about this because it has joined with the Chicago-based accounting firm, A.T. Kearney, to rank the world's global cities, with the results published in Foreign Policy magazine. Kearney teamed earlier with Foreign Policy to rank the world's most globally-linked countries. But globalism does not descend evenly on entire countries: rather, it is concentrated in cities, so the focus has shifted to global cities.

The first ranking came out in 2008. A newer ranking is just out, with the raw results published in Foreign Policy's latest issue and a more complete and nuanced report scheduled for later this month. Here is the listing of the most global cities:

Guest Post: Toward the Vital Center - A New Energy Legacy for the Midwest

by Henry L. Henderson, Director, Midwest Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

It is a genuine honor to be a guest on Richard Longworth’s blog. Dick is an exceptional reporter, analyst and elegant writer. His work on the state of the Midwest in the 21st Century, set forth eloquently in his book, Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism, is indispensable for those of us interested in the fate of our region.

Caught in the Middle examines the present constraints on the Midwest economy and culture, against the backdrop of a past that in many ways constituted the “Silicon Valley of the 19th Century.” Here, new and powerful ways of organizing industry, agriculture, personal mobility and the industrial economy that defined the 20th century were invented and successfully deployed. Thus, a dilemma confronts the Midwest today is that our current economic structures are in significant ways a legacy of a vibrant past that is out of touch with current needs, challenges and opportunities. The legacy structures act as a drag on the future, limiting our ability to create, compete and embrace a vibrant, productive and healthier economy in the new 21st century.

Nowhere is the example of a past vitality and present exhaustion more visible than in our current energy economy.

Bad Eggs and the Future of Farming

Wright County, in north central Iowa, is on the map these days for reasons it would rather forget. It's the home of the DeCoster family and their Wright County Egg, the lead company in a massive recall of 550 million eggs linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

There's not much good to be said about the DeCoster operation, which has been in trouble with environmental officials and the law in Iowa and other states and was once branded a "habitual" violator by the state of Iowa.

But both Wright County and the DeCosters are bellwethers of global agriculture and its impact on the Midwest. There's more to this story than just one big rogue outfit.

Reports from Wright County itself indicate that the DeCosters aren't all bad, that they get high marks from locals for their substantial philanthropy to the local library or their support for local festivals. When I first read this, I thought that Wright County must be one of those impoverished Iowa rural counties which is so grateful for any business or jobs that it's willing to harbor and excuse a serial polluter to get them.

There's more to it than that. Actually, Wright County is one of the wealthiest counties in Iowa. Its per capita income of $44,372 (2008 figures) is the third highest in the state. Its unemployment rate is usually around 4 percent and is only 7 percent now, well below the national average. Two of its hospitals are expanding. So are its schools.

On the other hand, it's one of the majority of Iowa counties that is shrinking -- 12,700 people, down from 19,000 in 1960. The long-term decline would be even worse if it wasn't for an influx of immigrants, mostly Hispanic, that make up nearly 10 percent of its population.

I talked with Denny Bowman, who runs the economic development department in Wright County. From what he said and the other stories since the egg scandal broke, it's clear that Wright County is an epicenter of global agriculture, which is to say big farming.