So, the Ear Leader has a solution:
“Let’s put construction workers back to work repairing rundown homes and tearing down vacant properties,” Obama said in prepared remarks in Phoenix.
Um.
The visible signs of blight are a symptom - albeit one which creates positive feedback* - not a root cause.
This calls for dusting off the question: why don't libertarians invade Detroit, buy up a bunch of blighted properties at less-than-fire-sale prices, and build a prosperous free-market haven?
Answer: because, obviously, there's a reason those properties are blighted in the first place. In the case of Detroit, there's an existing government in place, with taxes, regulations, and the authority (thought not the ability) to enforce them. In blight zones, there's no point trying to enforce anything... but you can just bet that the moment an area starts looking safe and wealthy, the tax collectors and code enforcers will show up.
In general, fixing up blighted properties makes little sense unless the root cause of the blight can also be fixed, or the properties are to be put to some novel use. It's like re-planting a field after a crop failure without addressing the soil fungus that killed off the first round of plants.
* In the engineering sense: it reinforces the trend, leading to uncontrolled oscillation, latch-up, or suchlike generally undesirable behavior.
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