Thomas Friedman and the Urban Technocrats

Apparently the New York Times’s Thomas Friedman has stumbled across something that used to be known as “federalism”, or in Friedman’s case, a crude, econometric version of it. In his latest column, “I Want to Be a Mayor,” Friedman writes, “Except in Detroit, mayors today have more fun.” (Anthony Wiener’s behavior makes you wonder if “fun” really ought to be a political priority). But Friedman is interested in local leaders because:

The country looks so much better from the bottom up — from its major metropolitan areas — than from the top down. Washington is tied in knots by Republican-led hyperpartisanship, lobbyists and budget constraints. Ditto most state legislatures. So the great laboratories and engines of our economy are now our cities.

To be sure, Friedman never once uses the term “federalism.” I suppose the NYT editorial board has little use for Hamilton, Madison, and Jay.

Of course, those of us who care about divided power and local governance should be happy that municipalities are reasserting their responsibilities. But Friedman draws a very lopsided lesson. Rather than acknowledging that local government, because it’s closest to the people, is naturally better at forging corporation and innovation between politicians and their constituents, Friedman is interested in municipalities–thanks to their potential for raw political power. He’s more concerned with a technocratic “network of economic development” than any republican ideal.

This parallels the theory of the Weekly Standard’s Michael Warren, who contends that Eliot Spitzer, New York’s disgraced former governor, is suddenly pursuing the New York City comptroller job for the surprising power the little-known position wields. Warren writes:

Of the comptroller position, [Spitzer] told the Times: ‘It is ripe for greater and more exciting use of the office’s jurisdiction.’ If elected, Spitzer would essentially be the city’s chief financial officer, a glorified accountant responsible for New York’s $70 billion budget. But that’s small potatoes next to the comptroller’s other role of overseeing pension funds for city workers totaling $140 billion. And Spitzer, who’s now outpolling his Democratic primary opponent, has been brutally honest about what he’d like to do with that responsibility.

‘That is where the power really comes from,’ he recently told Jay Leno, referring to $140 billion worth of pension funds he hopes to regulate.

Yikes. Let’s send Friedman and Spitzer a copy of The Federalist Papers ASAP.