Every once in a while, a voice of reason cuts through the nonsense. Ken Griffin, the CEO of Citadel, is one of those voices.
While speaking at the Citadel Securities Future of Global Markets conference in New York City last week, Griffin explained why rising crime and high taxes in Chicago were the deciding factors in his decision to relocate his company headquarters to Miami.
For those fueled by partisan loyalties and ideological narratives who operate in the political arena, “reality” is often something to be avoided at all costs, or at least shaded. In the corporate arena, those who avoid reality regularly go out of business.
In far too many ways, America’s crime-ridden inner cities have been abandoned by both political parties. But guess what? Those inner cities are not empty. Human beings live in them — long suffering and long-forgotten human beings who, at best, are being moved around a political chess board like disposable pawns.
None of this is an academic exercise for me. I grew up in abject poverty; I was homeless often, and regularly lived in housing projects where I was in the minority as a white person. Years ago, Simon and Schuster was kind enough to publish my memoir titled “Rolling Pennies in the Dark.” The opening words of that book being: “It really does hurt to get stabbed.”
I have long advocated for the disenfranchised residents of our major inner cities, usually to no avail. These men, women and children have little or no voice in the decisions and policies that have made their lives a living hell. Rather, it is the leaders of their cities and states who make those decisions and enact those often punishing policies.
Thanks to President Trump, and also to the rhetorical feud now taking place between him and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago is now getting a great deal of attention. But guess what? The Windy City was already awful long before that feud.
As the Chicago Tribune reported several years ago, over the past 60 years, more than 40,000 men, women and children have been murdered in the city, with hundreds of thousands wounded. Although many are not aware of that shocking statistic, it can be assumed that Ken Griffin knew of it. Why? Because Chicago had served as the headquarters for Citadel for more than three decades when he chose to leave it forever.
In explaining his rationale for moving his world-famous hedge fund to Miami, Griffin said in part: “Chicago, you know, unfortunately, over the last six or seven years, has been engulfed in a series of problems, which has been our headquarters for years. Asking people to leave Chicago for New York or Miami has not been hard.”
Note to far-left socialist-leaning mayors, politicians and activists: If you drive out billionaires and job creators, then your “free is for me” policy initiatives will collapse. In order to take money from the wealthy to give away as freebies, you need to have a substantial tax base. No tax base, no money.
And it should not be a stretch for far-left politicians to understand that if their mega-corporations feel the tax burden being placed upon them is unsustainable, while at the same time their employees feel increasingly unsafe in your city or state, both will go elsewhere in order to survive.
Griffin rightfully chose to do so, and he took Citadel with him — all to the detriment of Chicago and its beleaguered residents. He did not want to leave. That decision was forced upon him, by circumstances beyond his control.
Griffin became one of the most successful and iconic business leaders in the world for a reason. He has a deep understanding of the bonds between corporations and their host cities and states. Perhaps the leaders of some of our most financially troubled and crime-ridden cities should think about reaching out to him before they also face an exodus of companies and residents looking for a safer and more welcoming environment.
Crime and unsustainable tax rates can be reversed, and cities saved. But to get there, mistakes must first be admitted. Bad policies must first be jettisoned. Unfortunately, many politicians would rather double down on the bad policies than admit they were mistaken.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.
