Description

Book Synopsis

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST

An epic, riveting history of New York City on the edge of disasterand an anatomy of the austerity politics that continue to shape the world today

When the news broke in 1975 that New York City was on the brink of fiscal collapse, few believed it was possible. How could the country's largest metropolis fail? How could the capital of the financial world go bankrupt? Yet the city was indeed billions of dollars in the red, with no way to pay back its debts. Bankers and politicians alike seized upon the situation as evidence that social liberalism, which New York famously exemplified, was unworkable. The city had to slash services, freeze wages, and fire thousands of workers, they insisted, or financial apocalypse would ensue.

In this vivid account, historian Kim Phillips-Fein tells the remarkable story of the crisis that engulfed the city. With unions and ordinary citizens refusing to accept retrenchment, the budget crunch became a str

Fear City

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    A Paperback / softback by Kim Phillips-Fein

    £18.70

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      Book details

      Publisher St Martin's Press
      Published 10 April 2018
      ISBN-13 9781250160072
      978-1250160072
      ISBN-10 1250160073
      Also in:
      Regional, state and other local government

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST

      An epic, riveting history of New York City on the edge of disasterand an anatomy of the austerity politics that continue to shape the world today

      When the news broke in 1975 that New York City was on the brink of fiscal collapse, few believed it was possible. How could the country's largest metropolis fail? How could the capital of the financial world go bankrupt? Yet the city was indeed billions of dollars in the red, with no way to pay back its debts. Bankers and politicians alike seized upon the situation as evidence that social liberalism, which New York famously exemplified, was unworkable. The city had to slash services, freeze wages, and fire thousands of workers, they insisted, or financial apocalypse would ensue.

      In this vivid account, historian Kim Phillips-Fein tells the remarkable story of the crisis that engulfed the city. With unions and ordinary citizens refusing to accept retrenchment, the budget crunch became a str

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