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. ( )

I first read this book 10 years and have gone back to it several times since. As I’ve travelled throughout the small towns of the Midwest the last 7 years I’ve seen along worth’s observations and analysis bear out again and again. If you want to understand what is happening between the coasts this is a great start. ( )

A worthwhile read. Longworth reviews the challenges facing the Midwest Rust Belt in the age of globalization. He suggests various methods of alleviating the economic woes of the region (including interstate cooperation--not likely as states and communities compete to land car factories, etc.).

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. ( )

Things haven't changed in the Midwest since the 19th Century: "One reason Midwestern states are fragmented is that they were almost planned that way. Each contains a surplus of little fiefdoms called counties - a lot of counties. Iowa has 99 counties, Indiana 92, Illinois 102, Missouri no less than 114. This made sense in the nineteenth century, when all transportation was by horse and buggy over semipassable country roads. Each county was laid out so a farmer in its farthest reaches could travel to the county seat, do business, and get home the same day. Legend has it that the real reason was to enable an unmarried couple to ride to the county seat, get a marriage license, and get home before nightfall, forestalling any twilight hanky-panky among the hedgerows."

So the question Longworth asks is 'What is a global city?' And he answers it with, "An industrial city makes things a global city does them." Chicago may have been a global city before there was any notion of the term and Longworth optimistically considers it to be one now. What is needed most in the Midwest are consortia among universities and governments without the overweening pride of state governments or restrictions on state universities. He compares the state to union members: "They could build refrigerators, sure. But they are totally unqualified for any job other than the ones they just lost. Look, most of them have trouble reading or adding up a checkbook. The high-tech industry hasn't been invented that would employ them." Longworth likens this new approach to the Marshall Plan imposed after WWII. "Not much money went to individual countries. Rather the Europeans had to work together, across national lines, to restore their continental economy."

Yes, this is a depressing report, but there are hundreds of positive developments being played out before our eyes, if we look.