Ecorse, a Michigan community south of Detroit, gained a national reputation in the late 1980s as a town that took privatization seriously. Over a four-year period, Louis Schimmel, court-appointed receiver, privatized most city services, cut the city's work force more than 60 percent, and eliminated a $6 million budget deficit. Daddow's review of the city's efforts to correct its fiscal problems through spending discipline and privatization is a must-read for every city official who wants to learn lessons from a city that's been to the brink and back. 99 pages.
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