Paula Dwyer , Columnist

Trump's Fairy Tale About the Fall of Detroit

He blamed Obama, Clinton, regulations, taxes and Nafta, but ignored the real culprits.

August 9, 2016 at 12:15 PM UTC

Paula Dwyer is a senior editor with the New York editing hub, focusing on daily and long-form enterprise. She was London bureau chief for Businessweek and Washington economics editor for the New York Times, and is a co-author of “Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future.

Over-regulation was not the problem.
Photographer: Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images

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Donald Trump all but claims the economic policies of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton caused Detroit's 2013 bankruptcy. In a Monday speech in the Motor City, the Republican nominee said he'd cut taxes, eliminate regulations and negotiate more advantageous trade deals to revive Detroit and help other struggling cities.

But Trump got both the diagnosis and the prescriptions wrong. Even the United Auto Workers, the union that has seen its ranks decimated because of industry job cuts and foreign competition, seems to agree: It organized protests outside the hall where Trump spoke.