Originally written for the Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge website (and republished at Forbes.com), “The Long View” is one of three pieces asking what’s ahead for the city of Detroit in the wake of its July 18 filing for bankruptcy. Harvard Associate Professor Eric Werker and Kresge Foundation Senior Program Officer Benjy Kennedy discuss the ways in which bankruptcy for a city like Detroit differs from the bankruptcy of a business like Circuit City. Werker and Kennedy also look to Pittsburgh and to Liberia for clues to what post-bailout recovery might look like for the Motor City.

(Download a PDF of the Werker-Kennedy essay.)