Margaret Thatcher once said that socialist systems fail because eventually they run out of other people's money. The statement could be the new slogan for the city of Detroit. As of today, Detroit is now essentially in default on nearly all of its obligations; full bankruptcy is shortly ahead down the road. One has to wonder how it was possible that a city like Detroit could reach this point. The answer is pretty clear: Detroit adopted liberal/progressive tax and spend policies that squeezed its citizens and led many to depart. When the auto industry fell on hard times and the city lost its biggest tax payers, most of the rest of the folks who could afford to leave, did just that. All that is left are the poor.
Sixty years ago, Detroit had just under two million people within its borders. It was a symbol to the world of America's manufacturing might, the home of the auto industry. In the 1960's there were riots that hit Detroit, like many of America's cities. The move to the suburbs began to accelerate at that point, and Detroit's population fell, like so many other large American cities. But then something much different happened in Detroit. Instead of people leaving just the city, they began leaving the area. The suburbs still grew, but Detroit metro was a laggard. It went from the 5th largest area to the 14th largest, and there are actually fewer people in the metro area than there were 40 years ago.
Today, while the metro area is still large, Detroit itself is just a shadow of its former self. It now has about 700,000 people, meaning that it lost nearly two thirds of all its residents in the last fifty years. The median household income in the city is just over $27,000 per year. Just under 40% of the population lives below the poverty line according to the Census Bureau. Detroit is a city of poor people.
Properties across the city are vacant. That is certainly no surprise. A city that used to be home to almost two million loses two thirds of its people, so there are empty houses. There are also some neighborhoods that are nearly empty. People who owned homes in the city watched the value of those properties evaporate and not just after the last recession. People move out, they don't move in.
The answer of the city government is the usual one from the left: increase city services, increase taxes, increase borrowing, spend, spend, spend. The city squeezed more and more out of less and less. It did next to nothing to try to improve the business climate in the city in order to bring folks and business back. And now, it has run out of other people's money.
Without a doubt, there will be attempts in both the Michigan legislature and the Congress to "rescue" poor Detroit. Hopefully, neither the state nor the federal government will step in to help, unless and until the city cleans up its act completely. City workers have to be reduced so that they reflect the needs of a much smaller city. All the sweetheart deal of the politicians have to be jettisoned. Even social services need to be reordered so that the goal is not to support the people but rather to encourage them to support themselves.
It won't be easy, and it won't be popular. Nevertheless, it has to be done. Inevitably, many people from Detroit will move to other cities to hop back on the "things as usual" wagon. That cannot be stopped, but, at least, it will mean less will be required for Detroit to recover.
The entire city government has to be rethought in Detroit. The whole social service network must be revised. The "idea" of Detroit has to be changed in major ways.
Sixty years ago, Detroit had just under two million people within its borders. It was a symbol to the world of America's manufacturing might, the home of the auto industry. In the 1960's there were riots that hit Detroit, like many of America's cities. The move to the suburbs began to accelerate at that point, and Detroit's population fell, like so many other large American cities. But then something much different happened in Detroit. Instead of people leaving just the city, they began leaving the area. The suburbs still grew, but Detroit metro was a laggard. It went from the 5th largest area to the 14th largest, and there are actually fewer people in the metro area than there were 40 years ago.
Today, while the metro area is still large, Detroit itself is just a shadow of its former self. It now has about 700,000 people, meaning that it lost nearly two thirds of all its residents in the last fifty years. The median household income in the city is just over $27,000 per year. Just under 40% of the population lives below the poverty line according to the Census Bureau. Detroit is a city of poor people.
Properties across the city are vacant. That is certainly no surprise. A city that used to be home to almost two million loses two thirds of its people, so there are empty houses. There are also some neighborhoods that are nearly empty. People who owned homes in the city watched the value of those properties evaporate and not just after the last recession. People move out, they don't move in.
The answer of the city government is the usual one from the left: increase city services, increase taxes, increase borrowing, spend, spend, spend. The city squeezed more and more out of less and less. It did next to nothing to try to improve the business climate in the city in order to bring folks and business back. And now, it has run out of other people's money.
Without a doubt, there will be attempts in both the Michigan legislature and the Congress to "rescue" poor Detroit. Hopefully, neither the state nor the federal government will step in to help, unless and until the city cleans up its act completely. City workers have to be reduced so that they reflect the needs of a much smaller city. All the sweetheart deal of the politicians have to be jettisoned. Even social services need to be reordered so that the goal is not to support the people but rather to encourage them to support themselves.
It won't be easy, and it won't be popular. Nevertheless, it has to be done. Inevitably, many people from Detroit will move to other cities to hop back on the "things as usual" wagon. That cannot be stopped, but, at least, it will mean less will be required for Detroit to recover.
The entire city government has to be rethought in Detroit. The whole social service network must be revised. The "idea" of Detroit has to be changed in major ways.
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