Bloomberg: The man who knew better

As a mayor, Michael Bloomberg has been “a rousing success,” but as a political philosophy, Bloombergism has been “a debacle.”

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As New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg has been “a rousing success,” said Jonathan Chait in New York magazine. But as a political philosophy, Bloombergism has been “a debacle.” The mayor, who will step down at the end of the year, had hoped his three terms in office would result in a new way of governing that transcended ideological divides—“ideally in the form of a Michael Bloomberg presidency.” In this brave new world, technocrats would crunch data and make policies in the public’s best interests, whether people liked it or not. Believing people couldn’t make smart health decisions, he banned smoking in bars and restaurants and trans fats from fast-food menus, and tried to outlaw giant sodas. He championed the New York Police Department’s racially discriminatory stop-and-frisk policy, saying the data proved it “saves lives.” His open contempt for the misguided opinions of lesser mortals ultimately infuriated both liberals and conservatives. “Pol Pot on the Hudson,” Reason magazine called him.

Bloomberg clearly overstayed his welcome, said Jim Dwyer in The New York Times, and even most New Yorkers are glad to see him go. But it’s beyond dispute that he’s transformed the city—and the world—for the better. In 2003, he ignored the “nanny state” jeers and banned smoking in restaurants and bars. Since then, 35 U.S. states and 48 countries have followed his lead, meaning 1.2 billion people are now protected from second-hand smoke. Ah, but Bloomberg’s paternalism was not very consistent, said Matthew Yglesias in Slate.com. When it comes to cigarettes and sodas, “Bloomberg sees exploited marks and decides to rescue them from themselves.” But when it comes to regulating Wall Street, he defends his rich banker friends and says the suckers who lost money in the 2008 crash “should have done the research.”

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