Just watched this documentary about the current state of Detroit. Apparently, 30 millions of people left the are after auto manufacturing industry collapsed, but the life is slowly coming back.
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/uneven-terrain/palladium-detroit-full-new-credits--3
One thing that this underscores is a complete lack of vision on the part of our political class.
Instead of vasting $700B on rescuing banks that are not ready to collapse again, how about talking to a bunch of companies - Google, Microsoft, Amazon, others in software industry, venture capitalists - getting them to come into the area. Pouring money into revitalizing culture (hiring artists, opening theaters, clubs, etc), education to support the newcomers...
I bet a lot of people can be attracted by a prospect of almost free housing!
1 comment:
Hmmm... can't be 30 million. The population of Michigan is 10 million. It will take time for the mid-west to recover from the decline of the manufacturing industry. I'd lean towards investment in education vs investment in culture. Google has setup shop in Ann Arbor. (They have an adwords marketing group.) Other Silicon Valley companies have been hiring software talent. Michigan is the new "offshore" development location.
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