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fear that letting Detroit go bankrupt would have a domino effect that would leave a gaping crater in employment You mean like the +20% currently unemployed in

by duck 13y ago

fear that letting Detroit go bankrupt would have a domino effect that would leave a gaping crater in employment You mean like the +20% currently unemployed in Detroit? The best thing about Detroit is that one day it will be used as a case study of why entitlements don't work out the way people think they do.

rayiner 13y ago
I was using "Detroit" in this context as a metaphor for the car industry. GM going bankrupt would bankrupt a ton of suppliers spread throughout the midwest. As for Detroit, its problem has nothing to do with entitlements. Detroit was never New York or San Francisco, after all, in terms of entitlements. The midwestern industrial cities all have the same problem, and it's not entitlements, it's the automation of American manufacturing. Optimists tell me that its a good thing and any day now there will be new jobs for these folks, but looking at cities like Detroit, Buffalo, etc, that have been gutted for decades now doesn't make me optimistic.
- duck 13y ago
  Read up on the "Model Cities Program" and I think you'll see what I was talking about, even in regards to automation. In terms of if GM had gone bankrupt, I think any supplier that was competitive at the time would still be here today. They may be supplying their goods to a different manufacture along with some other hardships, but companies that are competitive and in control of their workforce can make those changes when the time comes.
  - ricardobeat 13y ago
    I think you underestimate the size and breadth of car manufacturing supply chains. Its very common for suppliers to build new factories/warehouses near a car manufacturing plant solely for them. You can just "make changes" if the plant is shut down.
    - duck 13y ago
      I probably do underestimate it since I haven't worked directly in that industry, but I completely realize that fact. That is why I mentioned hardships. It might mean they have to close/resize assets and entire towns could be effected, but to say it would wipe them out I think is a stretch.

by duck 13y ago

rayiner 13y ago

I was using "Detroit" in this context as a metaphor for the car industry. GM going bankrupt would bankrupt a ton of suppliers spread throughout the midwest. As for Detroit, its problem has nothing to do with entitlements. Detroit was never New York or San Francisco, after all, in terms of entitlements. The midwestern industrial cities all have the same problem, and it's not entitlements, it's the automation of American manufacturing. Optimists tell me that its a good thing and any day now there will be new jobs for these folks, but looking at cities like Detroit, Buffalo, etc, that have been gutted for decades now doesn't make me optimistic.

duck 13y ago
Read up on the "Model Cities Program" and I think you'll see what I was talking about, even in regards to automation. In terms of if GM had gone bankrupt, I think any supplier that was competitive at the time would still be here today. They may be supplying their goods to a different manufacture along with some other hardships, but companies that are competitive and in control of their workforce can make those changes when the time comes.
- ricardobeat 13y ago
  I think you underestimate the size and breadth of car manufacturing supply chains. Its very common for suppliers to build new factories/warehouses near a car manufacturing plant solely for them. You can just "make changes" if the plant is shut down.
  - duck 13y ago
    I probably do underestimate it since I haven't worked directly in that industry, but I completely realize that fact. That is why I mentioned hardships. It might mean they have to close/resize assets and entire towns could be effected, but to say it would wipe them out I think is a stretch.