Detroit is Bankrupt

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This is what happens when you have liberal democrats run your city. When you keep giving away other people's money, other people's money is going to run out.

Everything liberalism touches turns to crap.

Congratulations liberalism.

Progressives may be able to fool their constituency, but they cannot fool the laws of mathematics.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer city.
A perfect trifecta of union thugs, Democratic "leadership" and an uneducated populace.
Coming soon to a city near you. Welcome to Obamaville, suckahs!

If Obama had a city...

It's a mad, mad, liberal world. Satisfied yet liberal communists?

This is what socialist DEMOCRATS created!

Detroit has always been under the control of Democrats. Can any of this actually be a surprise?

Another success story for liberalism!
 
Since I'm not an economist, I can only offer my uneducated opinion and pray that the more educated can add to it...

But it seems that one of the root causes of Detroit's problem is the removal of the manufacturing sector (as those jobs were shipped overseas and/or automated) over the course of the last 20-30 years.

I guess the same thing could happen to Silicon Valley if all programming and IT manufacturing jobs (much more than the current trend) went to China/India. Or to NYC if they changed financial regulations in such a way all of the services were no longer needed or we made buying/selling stocks illegal.

We as a society need to be prepared to handle ultra high level of unemployment. Detroit seems like a warning shot. Eventually - the entire country will face this dilemma (many already are).

If it is true that the government's role is protect our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - then the solution cannot be to let everyone starve because they can't win American Idol, write a million dollar screenplay, or create the next Facebook.
 
I frequent a couple of sports forums where we talk about college football a lot. One of the big topics the last few years w/r/t CFB has been realignment. For those not familiar - it is about schools switching conferences (i.e. Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten).

And of the tons of lists and metrics and data related to all of this that has been discussed has been a discussion about population growth (in terms of where conferences would have been looking to add schools/teams and potential TV eyeballs).

The Southeast, Southwest, West are all growing rapidly. Something like 19 of the 20 fastest growing cities (among the top 200 populated cities) are in those areas. And the 20th is Washington DC.

There was certainly nothing in the upper Midwest or North at all. All of those numbers were in the red (losing people). That area is just...bleeding. It's pretty sad.
 
Since I'm not an economist, I can only offer my uneducated opinion and pray that the more educated can add to it...

But it seems that one of the root causes of Detroit's problem is the removal of the manufacturing sector (as those jobs were shipped overseas and/or automated) over the course of the last 20-30 years.

I guess the same thing could happen to Silicon Valley if all programming and IT manufacturing jobs (much more than the current trend) went to China/India. Or to NYC if they changed financial regulations in such a way all of the services were no longer needed or we made buying/selling stocks illegal.
I think there are many factors, but this is definitely one of them. We're told all our lives to diversify when it comes to money, and this is a perfect example of what happens when you don't. This concept applies to cities too, this city's livelihood was proudly built upon the automobile industry and when that industry takes a hit, one who has everything vested in that industry will take a hit. The writing was on the wall well before 2008.
 
There was certainly nothing in the upper Midwest or North at all. All of those numbers were in the red (losing people). That area is just...bleeding. It's pretty sad.

Freezing winters, hot & humid summers, no jobs, mosquitoes, crumbling infrastructure...what's not to love.
 
Detroit failed due to no policies of its own. Detroit failed because manufacturing failed and the city went into a shrinking-tax-revenue death spiral. Even as the auto industry and the metro area are picking up, the city lags behind, as there has been mass flight into the suburbs. Those left behind are those who can't afford to leave, and they generally pay less in taxes and absorb more in services. There is no economic policy in the universe that can reverse this spiral in the short term. But once things bottom out (and they may be doing so already), there's hope.

For the country's employment situation, my thoughts are mixed. The optimistic Keynesian of a Krugman-esque persuasion in me thinks that our malaise is cyclical, prolonged by insufficient fiscal policy (especially on net, considering state and local government austerity post-2008), but coming out of it. Part of me is afraid of major structural issues, but I'm not entirely sure what they are.
 
Freezing winters, hot & humid summers, no jobs, mosquitoes, crumbling infrastructure...what's not to love.

Personally, I have nothing bad to say about that area.
Just want to make that clear.

I just thought it was almost shocking to see the numbers.
Especially Michigan and Ohio. Wow.
 
Detroit’s decline is not due to location, climate or lifestyle elements. I was born in Detroit (1964) and my family moved to Toledo, Ohio (essentially, a satellite city for the automotive industry) five years later. It was a great place to grow up.

For perspective, in 1960, Detroit had the highest per-capita income in the US. It was the 4th largest city in the US – now it is somewhere around 18th in size.

The automotive industry is only a small part of Detroit’s decline. The automotive industry in general has not gone the way of the typewriter (judging by the traffic on the freeway this morning, Americans still love their cars). Automobile manufacturing has not been outsourced to foreign countries. To the contrary, there are numerous manufacturing plants throughout the US as foreign manufacturers have located in the US.

So, the decline of manufacturing in Detroit isn’t a product of a disappearing industry. It is more a product of a lack of competitiveness within the United States.

The automotive industry only reflects on half the puzzle. For any unit of government, there is a balance between revenue through taxation and spending. Detroit residents are already paying the highest per capital taxes of any municipality in Michigan. Continued tax increases cannot solve the fiscal problem. Spending is the real culprit here. The surge in public sector jobs (half of Detroit’s top ten employers are government entities) only escalates the decline. You need multiple private sector jobs for every public sector job to have adequate revenue to support the public sector job.

I agree with AEON’s statement earlier – Detroit is only a warning shot. Two cities in California filed for bankruptcy, largely with the same problem – municipal spending far outpaced revenue, with no ability to ratchet down spending as revenues declined. The ticking time bomb facing the country are public sector employee pension obligations.
 
The surge in public sector jobs (half of Detroit’s top ten employers are government entities) only escalates the decline. You need multiple private sector jobs for every public sector job to have adequate revenue to support the public sector job.

Is there a sure in public sector jobs or is the ratio skewed by the exodus of private sector employers?

The ticking time bomb facing the country are public sector employee pension obligations.

Bingo. This is going to be a huge, huge problem across the US and to a lesser, but still worrisome extent in Canada. Public sector pensions, particularly those that are still of the defined benefit variety cannot be maintained. There just isn't the money for them.
 
The way I read it, these two aren't really saying anything all that different. Their posts only differ maybe in tone and ideology but essentially paint the same picture.

Detroit failed because manufacturing failed and the city went into a shrinking-tax-revenue death spiral. Even as the auto industry and the metro area are picking up, the city lags behind, as there has been mass flight into the suburbs. Those left behind are those who can't afford to leave, and they generally pay less in taxes and absorb more in services. There is no economic policy in the universe that can reverse this spiral in the short term.

ng plants[/URL] For any unit of government, there is a balance between revenue through taxation and spending. Detroit residents are already paying the highest per capital taxes of any municipality in Michigan. Continued tax increases cannot solve the fiscal problem. Spending is the real culprit here. The surge in public sector jobs (half of Detroit’s top ten employers are government entities) only escalates the decline. You need multiple private sector jobs for every public sector job to have adequate revenue to support the public sector job.
 
You know - I'm beginning to wonder if the only reason Nixon opened up relations with China was to break the power that labor had over employers here in the US.
 
That is an easy one. No. That thinking was not around in the late 60s early 70s.

The better argument was to look for an opening against the Soviet Union. Nixon had a true passion against the Communist Soviets.
 
I lived in Detroit briefly back in the 90s :depressed:. Even back then things were in awful condition and there was talk of when the city would finally go bankrupt. I don't know exactly what caused Detroit's downfall, but I do know it's more complicated than simply saying "republicans/democrats ruined it with their policies!". A lot of people are saying a lot of things about Detroit, about how this is where the rest of the country is headed, and other "scary" things. I don't know if I agree with them, but I do know that Seattle would be in huge trouble if the big tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft just up and left. :reject:
 
Don't blame Detroit's bankruptcy on the government. Greed and corporate power are a dangerous cocktail that is bringing misfortunes in today's world.
 
Greed & power exist in government as well. Government doesn't get a free pass on this one.

Very true - which is why I don't think communism can succeed any more than capitalism - or feudalism - or hunter & gatheringism ....etc. Over time, those with a heavy dose of greed for wealth and power will work/mold the system to their favor until enough people get angry and rebel - then we start again.
 
Very true - which is why I don't think communism can succeed any more than capitalism - or feudalism - or hunter & gatheringism ....etc. Over time, those with a heavy dose of greed for wealth and power will work/mold the system to their favor until enough people get angry and rebel - then we start again.

What has that got to do with communism?

Greed and power in government is not really applicable in regards to this, given the system itself rejects class and a centralised state.
 
What has that got to do with communism?

Greed and power in government is not really applicable in regards to this, given the system itself rejects class and a centralised state.

I respectfully disagree - greed and power always creep in, that's why every human institution eventually crumbles.
 
Hunting-and-gatherism succeeded quite admirably. Was that just tossed into the sentence as an afterthought?

Not that I'd suggest for a second that any of us can or should return to it. But still.
 
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