Richard C. Longworth

Not normally the kind of book I read, but interesting. I felt at times like the author could have used a good editor to go over it one more time before publishing because I felt that the conclusions were at the beginning of the book, and I didn't like the solutions to the problems all jammed into the last chapter. For me, I'd have preferred to read the solutions in the chapter detailing the problems. I also took issue with some of the authors premises at the beginning. But aside from those criticisms, learned a lot about how the Midwest is failing in today's economy. And even though I love the little town I live in, every day we see more indications that we are in danger of falling off the map. It can be a seriously scary book for those of us who live in the Midwest, and I hope some of our leaders take the time to read it and, more importantly, think about what they can do to help the economies and children of the Midwestern states.… (mehr)

Longworth's observations are, as far as this carpet-bagging son of the Midwest now living in the South can tell, accurate and well-described. But except for more documentation of the misery in the Rust Belt, I don't see Longworth adding much value to the discussion. Aside from advocating some form of regional decision making (and ignoring the question of how that can be done within the confines of the U.S. Constitution), his message seems to be merely that the standard of living must, inevitably, decline in the Midwest during the age of globalization. Well, gee, thanks. Only in the post-2008 economic meltdown epilogue does he seem to offer any kind of forward view, and that is too truncated to rescue the book as a whole. Longworth sees the Midwest caught in the middle, but he offers no suggestion as to how it may get out.… (mehr)