Things like the mayor's trips to Israel and Europe are very important for industrial cities in the Midwest to compete with those in other parts of the country with better weather or lower labor costs.

A tranquil city of good laws, fine architecture, and clean streets is like a classroom of obedient dullards, or a field of gelded bulls - whereas a city of anarchy is a city of promise

Of course, you would have to be insane to hope your child grows up to be a playwright or poet. Given the odds, you would have to be quite cavalier about your children's future.

Our research indicated that Atlanta had kind of fallen off the map a little bit. Other cities had expanded their convention centers and had become a little more attractive than what Atlanta had to offer.

Israel is a basket case right now. But global Israeli companies are less affected by domestic problems.

I used to walk in the Bowery in the early 1980s, and it was not safe. It went from this to Disneyland under Giuliani and Bloomberg. This is now one of the best-run big cities in the world.