Grammar stuff. Detroit Is an Example of Everything That Is Wrong with Our Nation. Back on July 18, 2013 the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Detroit is now seeing a little life, but the city is far from where it once was. Once the wealthiest city in America, known as the “arsenal of democracy,” Detroit was the fourth largest city in the U.S. in the 1960s with a population of two million. Now it has become an example of everything that is wrong with the American economy, Detroit has become nothing more than a devastated landscape of urban decay with a current population of 714,000 whose unemployment rate at the height of the recession was as high as 29 percent, and has only decreased due to the rapidly decreasing population.
Visiting Detroit is the closest Americans can come to viewing what appears to be a war-torn city without leaving the U.S. This former powerhouse is a barren stretch of land, devastated by looters and and full of run-down, vacant houses. Unfortunately, Detroit is not alone. Why Government Can't Create Jobs | Foundation for Economic Education. Who is to blame for Detroit’s bankruptcy—China? Or robots? When Erica was a young child, she had a hard time coping with the absence of her father.
Even as a five-year-old, she would violently act out. Her mother shielded Erica from the knowledge that her dad was in prison, a convicted serial rapist. Eventually, counselors at a specialized after-school program revealed to Erica that her father was behind bars. They did not talk about his crimes, but they helped her make supervised contact. Erica began visiting and exchanging letters with her father, which greatly improved her behavior. But then, when she was nine, Erica’s dad sent her a letter admitting the reason for his incarceration, and she unraveled again.
More than 5 million children in the United States have had a parent in prison or jail, according to a 2015 study from the Maryland-based research center Child Trends. Researchers and specialists have understood for some time that a parent’s incarceration can have a severe impact on a child. The trauma of having a parent behind bars. You Don't know Sh** about Detroit's Shinola.
Luxury goods maker Shinola is marketing upscale watches and bicycles by playing up the brand’s blue-collar roots Perhaps no American city has a better story to tell right now than Detroit. Beginning well before the beleaguered city’s bankruptcy filing in 2013, tons of ink has been spilled about Detroit’s declining population, high unemployment, poverty and high crime rate.
There have been photo essays both on its abandoned buildings and on its resilient and resourceful residents. (Marketing News joined the fray in July 2013, running a story on urban planners’ and the business community’s efforts to reimagine the city as a hub for new businesses and tech startups.) The ongoing tale of this once-mighty city’s comeback attempts makes for compelling content and—as a handful of auto brands and at least one luxury goods maker have found—positions it well to serve as prime marketing fodder. Built in Detroit Even the brand’s name has more spunk than a typical luxury-oriented enterprise. A video. Shinola has perfect timing in Detroit. By Kai Ryssdal January 21, 2016 | 3:48 PM There's a new term out there to describe a recent manufacturing movement in America - "Make-tailers. " It's a category of "embedded-in-the-community" companies that produce small-batch, high-quality artisan products.
One of the marquee examples of this movement is Shinola. That name probably rings a bell. It used to be on shoe polish containers, and during World War II became a part of the American lexicon when the phrase, "You don't know s**t from Shinola" became popular. Shinola the shoe polish company went out of business in 1960, and in 2011 Fossil founder Tom Kartsotis bought the name and founded a new company with it. Kartsosis is from Plano, Texas, but he chose Detroit for his new company's headquarters and production facility. Shinola has been divisive amongst Detroiters. But Shinola's growth signals corporate success. Marketplace visited Shinola's headquarters in Detroit where the company also has its leather shop.
Produced by Tommy Andres. Mapping 60 Years of White Flight, Brain Drain and American Migration. You can tell a lot about a place by who doesn't want to be there any more. Or, conversely, by who wants to move in. A city that seeps population over time invariably has deeper problems driving its demographic change, like poor school districts that can't keep young families, or weak job prospects for its college grads.
A county that attracts new residents, on the other hand -- maybe young people in particular, or retirees -- likely has the right amenities to lure them. Maybe a certain job sector. Or golf course communities. In this way, we can divine some of the fortunes of different corners of the country simply by watching how Americans move around over the years. Each year, about 10 million Americans relocate to a new county. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Michigan Technological University and the University of New Hampshire have built just such a database dating back to the 1950s. The tool also illustrates some familiar historical patterns by race. 1950s 1960s.
Rush Limbaugh: Detroit Went Bankrupt Because Blacks Drove Out Whites. Economists are attributing Detroit’s recent bankruptcy filing to problems facing the entire Rust Belt region: a shrinking tax base, high health and pension costs, sprawl, and general dysfunction. But on Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh added another cause to the long list of factors that have contributed to the city’s downfall: black people. During an appearance on Fox News’ On The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday, Limbaugh claimed that “unchecked” Democratic rule “since the last Republican mayor [in] 1957” created a lazy and bloated culture of out-of-control spending and corruption.
“You’ve had that — that town has been a petri dish of everything the Democrat Party stands for, everything the Democrat Party loves — massive unions, massive pensions, pay people pensions and health care long after they’ve stopped working,” he said, before arguing that the city’s first black mayor exacerbated the city’s spending and sparked racial riots that chased white people into the suburbs: Tech and innovation power Detroit's manufacturing revival. Similar efforts are under way in Detroit to foster innovation and entrepreneurism. These include the Obama administration's manufacturing innovation institute, called Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT), launched in January, and the philanthropic New Economy Initiative (NEI), an economic development initiative working to build a network of support for entrepreneurs and small businesses. "We don't support entrepreneurs directly, but the ecosystem that does," explained David Egner, executive director of NEI, which has raised $135 million to fund entrepreneurs and programs like LIFT.
Egner said that about 20 percent of its recipients are budding manufacturers, making things like heated motorcycle jackets, wooden pallets and carbon dioxide-based coolants for machinery. Many are former autoworkers who have hooked up with TechTown, a nonprofit innovation hub and incubator situated in a 135,000-square-foot downtown facility provided by General Motors. —By Bob Woods, special to CNBC.com. Detroit bankruptcy another setback for unions. Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing is a major setback for public employee unions that have spent years trying to ward off cuts to the pensions of millions of government workers around the country. If the city's gambit succeeds, it could jeopardize an important bargaining tool for unions, which often have deferred higher wages in favor of more generous pensions and health benefits. It also could embolden other financially troubled cities dealing with pension shortfalls to consider bankruptcy, or at least take a harder line with their unions in negotiating cuts.
"This is essentially the union's worst nightmare, said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "It means that the most sacred of sacred things they've negotiated for, the pensions of their retired members, are going to be severely cut. " Detroit's bankruptcy filing comes on the heels of some public unions losing most of their collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin.
Detroit’s white population rises. Detroit’s white population rose by nearly 8,000 residents last year, the first significant increase since 1950, according to a Detroit News analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The data, made public Wednesday, mark the first time census numbers have validated the perception that whites are returning to a city that is overwhelmingly black and one where the overall population continues to shrink. Many local leaders contend halting Detroit’s population loss is crucial, and the new census data shows that policies to lure people back to the city may be helping stem the city’s decline. “It verifies the energy you see in so many parts of Detroit and it’s great to hear,” said Kevin Boyle, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian who studies the intersection of class, race, and politics in 20th-century America.
The Northwestern University professor grew up on Detroit’s east side. “I think it’s a trend. The influx of whites helped slow Detroit’s population decline last year. Auto Bailout or UAW Bailout? Taxpayer Losses Came from Subsidizing Union Compensation. June 13, 2012 | Backgrounder on Economy By James Sherk and Todd Zywicki Key Points Bankruptcy law calls for similarly situated creditors to receive equal treatment. In the government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union received much more favorable treatment than other creditors and other unions.
Unlike other unsecured creditors, the UAW recovered most of the money owed to its benefit funds. GM’s UAW members—among the most highly paid workers in America—did not take pay cuts as they normally would in bankruptcy. Abstract: The U.S. government will lose about $23 billion on the 2008-2009 bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. The government bailout of General Motors (GM) and Chrysler between 2008 and 2009 will cost taxpayers approximately $23 billion. Legally, the UAW’s claims had the same status as those of other unsecured creditors, but the UAW recovered a much greater proportion of the debts that General Motors and Chrysler owed the union.
Ford to invest $1.6 billion for new plant in Mexico. Ford sparked outrage from the UAW and Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday, uniting two unlikely foes, after the automaker said it would invest $1.6 billion to build a new plant in Mexico and create 2,800 jobs. The Dearborn automaker has been among Trump's targets for months because of the widely expected investment south of the border.
The UAW, which reached a new four-year contract with the automaker last November, also has long been critical of automakers increasingly building new plants in Mexico. The union and Trump said Tuesday that America's trade deals lead to job losses. "These ridiculous, job-crushing transactions will not happen when I am president," Trump said in a statement issued by his campaign. Trump has previously said if elected president he would threaten the company and any other automaker with a 35% tariff on products or parts imported into the U.S.
He also said the investment in Mexico will not result in a loss of jobs in the U.S. Detroit Rising: Life after bankruptcy. One year after a federal judge approves Detroit's bankruptcy exit plan, progress has been made while looming challenges remain, especially city pensions The City of Detroit has more than enough cash to pay its daily bills. Thousands of busted streetlights have been replaced. City retirees still receive pension checks, and valuable paintings remain ensconced in the gilded halls of the Detroit Institute of Arts. That's the good news. But a year after a federal judge approved a cost-cutting and reinvestment plan in the nation's largest-ever municipal bankruptcy case, Detroit's financial future still hangs in the balance. Among the greatest concerns: a multibillion-dollar pension bill that starts coming due in less than a decade. The city is on the hook to make a balloon pension payment estimated at more than $100 million in 2024 alone.
So far, the early returns for the investments since the bankruptcy are falling short. It was officially known as a plan of adjustment. None came true. Peter J.