Book Reviews : William Howard Taft: A Conservative's Conception of the Presidency. By DON ALD F. ANDERSON. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1973. Pp. 335. $15.00.)

• Author: Tully E. Warren
• Published date: 01 December 1974
• Date: 01 December 1974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591297402700418
• Subject Matter: Articles

744
The basic feature of the Meyers and Musial idea is to apply the principle of
inverse feedback to the process of urban decay, which, under our present institu-
tions, has no self-correcting equilibrium tendencies occurring within socially or
fiscally acceptable limits. The authors’ proposal introduces such an equilibrium
tendency by causing additional units of &dquo;output&dquo; from the system to inhibit further
&dquo;input&dquo; to the same system. As people and business firms move out of the area,
there is an increase in the benefits available to those who remain, thus effectively
raising the costs of further outward movement; as people and businesses move in,
the improvement of the area diminishes the tax credit and lessens the incentive
for further movement of the same kind.
It is this structural feature that gives the Meyers and Musial aproach its
primary importance. The inverse feedback principle is a common characteristic
of mechanical and electrical systems, and is a central feature of the economist’s
analytical apparatus for general and partial equilibrium in a free-market setting.
Such a self-correcting device could certainly be applied to fiscal instruments of
many kinds, including the income tax, and could have a major impact upon the
processes that have laid waste to our central cities.
In addition to the income tax credit, property taxes, service charges, inspec-
tion and connection fees, and perhaps even improvement district assessments could
be made subject to the Meyers and Musial self-correcting principle. Any move
toward applying such a principle would be an appropriate and urgently needed
retreat from our decades-long commitment to the destructive positive feedbacks
of federal and state policies, particularly in the treatment of highways and housing.
In highway financing, for example, more cars mean more gas tax revenues, more
roads, and still more cars in a seemingly endless spiral. In housing, FHA policies
deny mortgage insurance for...