All Roads Lead To Washington

The new urbanist scholar Joel Kotkin points out that Washington, D.C. is rapidly becoming the center of all American power. Used to, America had many different centers of power: Each state had its governmental capital. In business, the financial industry had New York City; automobiles had Detroit; oil had Dallas; the entertainment industry had Hollywood; computers had Silicon Valley. But now, Kotkin writes, each sector of American government, economics, and culture is becoming more and more dependent on an increasingly all-powerful governmental bureaucracy located in Washington, D.C. Thus, Washington is changing from its old limited function into a centralized national city on the order of London, Paris, and Moscow. Kotkin’s reflections on the role of cities is fascinating, but the political implications of what he says and his figures of speech are rather ominous:

No longer a jumped-up Canberra or, worse, Sacramento, it seems about to emerge as Pyongyang on the Potomac, the undisputed center of national power and influence. As a new president takes over the White House, the United States’ capacity for centralization has arguably never been greater. But it’s neither Barack Obama’s charm nor his intentions that are driving the centrifugal process that’s concentrating authority in the capital city. It’s the unprecedented collapse of rival centers of power.

This is most obvious in economic affairs, an area in which the nation’s great regions have previously enjoyed significant autonomy. But already the dukes of Wall Street and Detroit have submitted their papers to Washington for vassalage. Soon many other industries, from high-tech to agriculture and energy, will become subject to a Kremlin full of special czars. Even the most haughty boyar may have to genuflect to official orthodoxy on everything from social equity to sanctioned science.

At the same time, the notion of decentralized political power — the linchpin of federalism — is unraveling. Today, once proudly independent — even defiant — states, counties and cities sit on the verge of insolvency. New York and California, two megastates, face record deficits. From California to the Carolinas, local potentates with no power to print their own money will be forced to kiss Washington’s ring.