Blas’ Iowa Error

Here’s the funny thing about Mayor de Blasio’s lecturing Iowans about inequality last week: He doesn’t have anything to teach them, because his city is one of the most unequal places in America — thanks to decades of progressive policies.

Steven Malanga makes the basic point at cityjournal.org: Relatively lowtax Iowa has one of the lowest levels of income inequality among the states. The Empire State, one of the highest. And New York City is the most unequal part of the state.

Now, part of the cause is Wall Street. Without it, and the vast amounts it pays in taxes, this town would be much more equal — and a lot more like Detroit.

No: What’s made inequality boom in New York City is the flight of the middle class. Blame rotten services — and extortionate taxes and other policies that for decades have killed middleclass jobs.

Once, this town was home to the corporate headquarters of half the Fortune 500— providing thousands of good office jobs. Nearly all are gone. In industries from publishing to banking to advertising, employment here is far below 1960s levels.

Even Wall Street has moved most of its back offices away— the fat cats remain, but all the other cats are gone.

Most US cities have kept some light manufacturing. Not New York. It’s just too much of a hassle to do business here. ( Even Junior’s has to start baking out of town.)

Driving the exodus has been the progressive dream— above all else, the diversion of billions of tax dollars a year to pay for “social services” that no other American city even tries to provide. Yet none of those cities seems to suffer for it.

And the progressives keep on making it harder on job providers. With de Blasio cheering it on, the City Council keeps adding fresh burdens on business— a paid sickleave mandate here, new hoops to jump through when hiring or firing there, innovative fines all across the board. And always more paperwork— a “tax” of another kind.

Instead of lecturing off in Iowa, the mayor would’ve done better to listen.