In the mid-1970s, New York City teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, faced with a constrained tax base and unable to pay its bills. President Ford, as the Daily News famously paraphrased it, told the city to "drop dead." Economist William Tabb wrote a book at the time about what he termed "the long default." He discusses the parallels between that fiscal crisis, which was resolved through massive layoffs and cuts to public services, and what is taking place in California and other U.S. states today.