Viewpoint
The Battalion j# Texas A&M University Wednesday • June 6 ? 1979
HUD denies urban flight over
By DAVID E. ANDERSON
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A growing number
of commentators say U.S. cities are recov
ering from the decade of turmoil, aban
donment, white flight and decline that
gave the nation the phrase “urban crisis.”
The government department responsi
ble for the cities says this diagnosis is far
too optimistic; that the flight from the cen
tral cities continues.
Those who detect new life in the old
cities point to movement by young, white
professional “urban pioneers,” the re
building and renovation of older residen
tial neighborhoods and the revitalization of
some downtown commercial areas.
These observations, leading some to
conclude that the urban crisis is over, has
so shaken the Housing and Urban De
velopment department that HUD’s Urban
Policy Staff has produced a 44-page rebut
tal to one of the most influential “myth of
the urban crisis” articles.
The article, “The Urban Crisis Leaves
Town,” by T.D. Allman appeared in the
December 1978 Harper’s magazine and
has been widely cited by columnists and
urban affairs writers.
HUD said the article “presents a mis
leading, often inaccurate and inconsistent
portrait” of the nation’s cities.
Accurate generalizations about the state
of the cities are not easy to come by be
cause their status involves a number of
elements including jobs, housing condi
tion and supply, population movement
and fiscal trends.
Much of the current optimism about the
state of the cities, reflected in the views of
Allman and other commentators, stems
from the behef that cities are once again
attracting affluent whites from the suburbs
while upwardly mobile blacks are increas
ingly moving to the suburbs.
Proponents of what is being called “gen-
tification” point to renovation and re
vitalization of Washington’s Capitol Hill
neighborhood, some areas of New York,
Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans, as
examples of the “urban pioneer” move
ment.
HUD concedes that this is happening in
a few cities.
In a separate report on displacement —
the involuntary removal of low and
moderate income minorities — HUD
noted that the so-called “inmovers” are
“generaly upwardly-mobile young couples
or single individuals without children
whose income range from $10,000 to
$30,000 a year.” But the report also indi
cated that many had rented in the central
city before buying homes.
According to HUD, “overall population
migration patterns continue to sap the
economic and social vitality of cities.”
Between 1975 and 1977, HUD says, one
million more families moved from central
cities to suburbs than moved into the cen
tral cities from suburbs.
In a separate study supporting the HUD
view, John L. Goodman Jr., of the Urban
Institute said while suburbanites moving
back into the city have increased, “the in
crease has occurred because of the grow
ing number of suburbanites and not be
cause any given suburbanite is more likely
now than before to move to the city.”
Goodman said it was a misconception
that those moving to the city were white,
childless professionals.
“Most of the movers from the suburbs to
the cities are neither childless nor profes
sionals,” he said, and except for age and
race (there are few black suburbanites) the
back-to-the city movers “are quite similar
to those already in the city.”
“Contrary to popular opinion,
suburbanite-to-city movers do not sub
stantially raise the average socioeconomic
status of city populations,” he said.
HUD said that it has found that because
of net outmigration and the lower average
income of in-migrants, “central cities lost
over $17 billion in family income from
1975-1977. Furthermore, the poverty rate
in cities was higher in 1977 than in 1969. ”
Some optimists looking at the cities also
see a major shift in black moves to the
suburbs, indicating for them that the bar
riers of suburban racial segregation in
More Americans investing
abroad to hedge inflation
By KAZUO MIKA MI
United Press International
NEW YORK — Foreign investment is
in vogue among individual American in
vestors as a hedge against domestic infla
tion and Japan is emerging as a lucrative
market.
At the end of 1977 American holdings of
foreign securities totaled $49.3 billion,
compared with $27.4 billion at the end of
1973, according to U.S. Commerce De
partment figures.
More than half this investment is in
Canada — $26.9 billion at the end of 1977.
Although the figures have not yet been
adjusted. Commerce estimates that
Americans increased their holdings by
$3.4 billion last year.
Investment in Japanese securities by
Americans totaled $1.2 billion at the end
of 1978 and there are indications U.S. in
vestment in Japan is increasing, partly be
cause of the dollar’s depreciation against
the yen and partly because of the low
Japanese inflation rate.
“I’m extremely bullish on the future of
American investments in the Japanese
stock and bond markets,” said Daniel
Schrimph, president of the Convertible
Fund of Japan, Ltd.
The open-end mutual fund — an in
vestment company that issues an unlim
ited number of shares and redeems them
on demand — invests in the convertible
bonds (those exchangeable into common
stock) of major Japanese industrial corpo
rations.
While Europeans have been quite act
ive in the Japanese market in the last 15
years, Schrimph said, “this has not been
quite the case in America.”
“Yet today we do see a huge trend to
wards American investments abroad.
“American investors are recognizing
that foreign investment is a way to hedge
against inflation and that international di
versification of their assets is a way of re
ducing risks,” Schrimph said.
The American investor has been hurt in
the U.S. market, he said. He sees his as
sets being eaten away by domestic infla
tion.
If he owns a small business, Schrimph
said, he sees his margins eroded by in
creased labor costs and decreased worker
productivity.
Statistics show, according to Schrimph,
that over the last 10 years investment of
U.S. dollars in Japanese securities has
yielded about 17 percent annually.
“About a year ago,” he said, “we de
cided to form a group of very wealthy in
vestors — mostly individuals — convinced
that there was a need in the United States
for a service to the individual that seems to
be available only to big institutions,
namely to have a vehicle whereby he
could diversify his assets.”
“So far, we have been very successful,”
he said.
The fund’s current portfolio is diver
sified over some 25 companies in 10 indus
tries — including construction, food, opti
cal, and shipping and air transport.
Japanese securities are governed in
much the same way as those in the United
States, Schrimph said. For example:
—Information is as readily available as it
is here.
—The rules of exchange are more or less
similar to the ones in this country and dis
closure requirements also are similar to
those in the United States.
—There are few restrictions on
Japanese companies. As yet, there is no
OSHA or EPA and the mood of capitalism
is overwhelming.
“So long as Japanese inflation is lower
than America’s and productivity is
higher,” he forecast, “the yen will con
tinue to appreciate” in value against the
dollar.
Therefore, growth is anticipated from
current income, capital gains and currency
appreciation, Schrimp said.
Japans economy has lesson for U.S.
By DONALD H. MAY
United Press International
WASHINGTON — More than two dec
ades ago, the United States taught a de
feated Japan how to make its post-war
economy more productive. Now the pupil
has done so well, the teacher is taking les
sons from it.
Congress’ Joint Economic Committee
Tuesday began an inquiry into how Japan
has has been able to make its productivity
grow four times faster than that of the
United States since the 1950s; France,
Italy and Germany more than twice as fast
as the United States.
Productivity — in this case, output per
hour of work in the private economy — is
becoming less and less a subject discussed
only among businessmen and more and
more a public issue.
Economists generally agree that it is
only by increasing the rate of growth of
productivity that the United States can, in
the long run, solve its problem of inflation
and achieve a higher real standard of living
for its people.
Productivity is involved in the health of
the dollar and the extent to which U.S.
jobs are lost to foreign competition.
In 1950, according to committee chair
man Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, it took
seven Japanese workers to produce what
one American produced. By 1977, it took
less than two Japanese to match one
American.
In 1950, it took three German workers
to equal the production of one American
worker; now it takes 1.3 Germans.
Japan’s productivity grew 8 percent in
1978; that of the United States only 0.3
percent.
So Bentsen called to the witness table
Joji Arai, manager of the U.S. office of the
Japan Productivity Center, established
with U. S. help in 1955, and asked him the
secret.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Arai said,
Japan gave preferential tax treatment to its
export industries in order to earn foreign
exchange with which to buy technology
and new equipment from abroad.
Twenty-nine percent of Japan’s output
between 1962 and 1972 was invested in
plants and equipment, Arai said, com
pared to 13 percent for the United States.
Japanese companies spent $10 billion on
research and development in 1977, about
half the amount U.S. firms spent. But the
Japanese economy is half the size of this
country’s. And all Japan’s research was
commercial, Arai said, while the U.S. re
search figure includes space and defense.
Japan, Arai said, has less of an adversary
system of collective bargaining. It loses 1.5
million person-days per year to strikes
compared 35 million for the U.S. in 1977.
housing are being broken.
Allman, looking at population shifts in
congressional districts found that black
suburban movers are “now a significant
demographic pattern.”
Others, however, question the op
timism.
“The flow of blacks to the suburbs is
thus far a very limited one,” according to
HUD.
It said that between 1975 and 1977, ap
proximately 170,000 black family heads of
household were central city to suburban
movers — 4 percent of the 4.4 million
black families living in central cities and
their suburbs in 1977.
At the same time, whites moved out of
the central city at a considerably higher
rate so that while the number of blacks in
the central city may have declined
slightly, the percentage of central city res
idents who were black increased from 22
percent in 1970 to 23 percent in 1977,
HUD said.
HUD officials are not without optimism
with regard to the state of the cities.
“Some American cities are doing bet
ter,” according to HUD.
But they still see the basic issues that
gave rise to the urban crisis — poverty,
unemployment, racial segregation, com
mercial and business disinvestment in
central cities — as all too pervasive.
t
The Lighter Side
Nixon: a
non-person
in U.S.?
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — In the Soviet
Union, discredited government
leaders sometimes are relegated to
“non-person” status and treated as
though they never existed.
We Americans like to tell our
selves it couldn’t happen here. But
what does one make of a recent sur
vey conducted by Public Interest
Opinion Research?
The survey was based on a
three-part question phrased as fol
lows:
“Some people say in recent years
that the wives of presidents were as
capable as their husbands and might
have even made better presidents.
Do you think this is true or not true
in the case of Betty Ford?
“How about Lady Bird Johnson?
“And, how about Rosalynn Car
ter?”
To end the suspense im
mediately, only 21 to 26 percent of
those interviewed replied affirma
tively. Ending the suspense, how
ever, does not terminate curiosity
about the survey.
Do you get a feeling someone is
missing from this particular group
ing of first ladies? Wasn’t there
another first lady of recent vintage
who fitted in there some place?
My memory is about as reliable as
a Three Mile Island reactor valve,
but it was my recollection there was
a first lady between Mrs. Johnson
and Mrs. Ford.
Whipping out my trusty almanac,
I quickly ascertained that Mrs.
Johnson’s husband was the 36th
president, and Mrs. Ford’s husband
the 38th.
That strongly indicated the wife of
the 37th president had been
excluded from the survey as cleanly
as if her husband had never been in
the White House.
I now felt certain enough of the
omission to call up the polling com
pany and inquire about it.
The official I talked with con
firmed my suspicions. However, I
was not able to elicit the cause of the
omission. The firmest answer I got
was “no real reason.” Which could
mean anything from an oversight to
a policy decision.
Two thoughts arise from this in
vestigation. One is that the survey
can hardly be considered a model of
scientific opinion sampling. For had
the other first lady been included,
the overall results might have been
different.
In that husband-wife capability
comparison, the majority opinion
might have been on the distaff side.
My other thought is that here we
have a good illustration of why dis
credited leaders can’t be turned into
. non-persons in America. For that
sort of thing to work, all mention of
the name would have to be suppres
sed.
In this country, when a former
first lady whose husband fell from
grace is ignored by one medium,
other media call attention to it.
Could anyone writing such a ex
pose be so absent-minded as to
forget the identification?
Senate hesitates on
some states’ rights
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By CHERYL ARVIDSON
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Seventy years ago, agitation for the election of U.S
by the people instead of state legislatures reached a peak. But the Senate fc rH ()v | '
constitutional amendment providing direct election of its membership. ( ^ ,
i Advocates of a popularly elected Senate decided to try to bypass the ‘ ™ a
method of amending the Constitution. They petitioned Congress for a
tion under the constitutional provision that says “on the application of the leas
of two-thirds of the several states, Congress shall call a convention for pi
amendments.”
At the point when only one more state was needed to activate the provi
direct election amendment was approved by the traditional process: two-thiri]
of approval in the House and Senate followed by majority vote ratification b\
fourths of the legislatures.
Even though the convention method of amendment has been available
Constitution was written (by a constitutional convention), all 26 amendmi
proved since then have started in Congress.
Ratification by three-fourths of the legislatures also would be a requireraejIlE^j*^,^,*
amendments proprosed by a constitutional convention. But beyond that, thereife
agreement among legal scholars about the ground rules of the convention
amendment.
There is debate on virtually every point — from which state petitions!)
counted toward the required 34 to the system of voting to be used by a com
About 400 petitions for a constitutional convention on various topics hi
approved by legislatures over the years
Congress came closest to having to face the issue in recent times in themiji
when 33 states sought to overturn the Supreme Court’s “One-Man, One-Votfj
sion on legislative reapportionment.
The 33rd request for a convention was approved in 1967. Would Congress
still be bound to call a convention if a 34th state asked for it now? Some scl
petitions on a single topic are valid forever; others say a reasonable timelimit
apply -
Other “close calls” have included an effort to repeal the 16th Amendment
ing income taxes launched by 28 states between 1939 and 1955; and a conveol
to prevent polygamy passed by 27 states between 1907 and 1915.
Now, the drives for amendments requiring a balanced federal budget and A)
ing abortion have constitutional scholars and legal experts squirming.
So far, 28 states have asked for a convention on the general topic of a
budget, 14 on abortion.
The budget proposals vary widely in detail. Some states include the wordiii|
amendment they want considered; others just ask for a convention on a
budget. One petition forwarded to the Senate asks for a convention to
growth of federal spending.
“The question that would have to be faced at some point is, are all thoa
counted in the same pot?” said Kevin Faley, chief counsel for the Senate Cons^
Subcommittee, which is collecting state petitions. "L
Other questions of procedure — how delegates would be chosen, wtej MIDNIG1
amendment should be passed by a simple majority or a two-thirds vote of thee* Grove,
tion, whether each state will get only one vote as was the case in 1787 or 0EADLII
voting should be weighted according to population — are also up in the air j.
But the biggest controversy is over limiting a convention to a single topic. 1*
and conservatives alike fear there is no way, even by law, to guard against a“roB
convention.’’ B—__
“It would put the Constitition back on the drawing board where everyB"
crackpot or special interest group would have a chance to write the supremeB
the land, said Howard Jarvis, the author of California’s Proposition 13 that be)
so-called “taxpayers’ revolt.”
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The Senate has passed bills twice that would spell out procedures for a com
tional convention, including limiting the convention to a single topic. The How*
never acted. g-j rV-jq
Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate again this yet3
it is unlikely that it will be considered unless the magic number of 34 is reacl?
“We’ve been closer before, quite closer before,” Faley said. “Each state| *
tougher and tougher as you get closer. On a controversial issue like this and dm) ^ ^ Jj
you may get a lot of states real fast, but it becomes tougher to get those eitB
states you need, so you can’t automatically make the assumption thatitisML
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HONG KONG — China’s month-long border war against Vietnam - Brian additi
battlefield test since the Korean War — has left Peking confident and readycHexemptio
again. Western military analysts say. B^ e m eas
Despite Peking’s admission that 20,000 of its troops were killed or wounded*, ranch
the February fighting, China is ready to launch another “punitive’ in axed on its j
Vietnam if that appears necessary to halt Hanoi’s “expansionist moves in IncOarket value
the analysts say.
Having tested its rusty war machine, “The Chinese really believe they call
the Vietnamese army and the Soviets (Vietnam’s strongest ally),” says onef
diplomat.
The Chinese have warned that hostilities will erupt again if the Vietnamese]
abandon their policy of regional hegemony and anti-Chinese policy.”
But China also is aware that the Soviet Union, which played only a mind
supporting the Vietnamese in this winter’s fighting, may not stand on thes
the war breaks out again.
This and a buildup of Soviet pressure on China’s northern border, lu|
increased concern by Chinese leaders over their outmoded military ha
Western military experts say China’s military equipment is 10 to 20 y«
date and they believe it will take Peking at least 10 years to modernize itsi
“What they have is not that modem, but it is adequate,” says one military^
“The artillery they used in the border war is basically the same used in Kort
is damned effective.”
China’s awareness of its outmoded equipment is shown by its frequents
trips abroad for hardware — mostly to France, Britain and the United Sta
China needs new anti-aircraft missiles, tanks and jet fighters. Its aging*
MiG-19 and the Chinese-designed F-9 fighters were considered too valual
vulnerable to risk their being shot down during the border war, the analystl
The Chinese military has been impressed by the French Mirage 2000 jet is j
tor and the British Barrier jumpjet, the military experts say. They also ?
interest in France’s “Hot” and “Milan” anti-tank weapons.
No contracts for military hardware have been signed with foreign nations
the Western experts say could indicate less than full agreement among C
leaders on how rapidly modernization of the Chinese army should proceed
To launch its punitive attack against Vietnam, China relied on the age-old -
wave” tactic — sending thousands of troops surging across the border intoVif (
five northern provinces at 26 points.
“The Vietnamese were stunned by the overall scope of the thing,” says a"
diplomat specializing in Chinese affairs. “If the Vietnamese were not humb’
were made at least a lot more wary of the prospect of future fighting.”
China has admitted 20,000 of its troops were killed or wounded in thel
and estimates of Vietnamese casualties run as high as 50,000.
Western experts say China’s high casualty rate and the threat of Sovieti
tion if a second round of fighting erupts could give China second though
launching another invasion.
The Battalion
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