Detroit - anyone interested in the facts?

As did New York city...so it is possible I suppose...but a strong law enforcement presence is required in the early stages of revitalization.

 

This was exactly what happened to civilization's cities during the last Dark Ages, when wild barbarians ruled and were only interested in looting, raping, burning, and killing. The city of Rome, which had a population of 1 million during the Classical Era, wound up with a population of 20,000.

 

St. Louis city is remarkably like Detroit in that respect...the money left, all that remains is the impoverished that feed on themselves with crime...everyone else stays out. The St. Louis city school districts are abysmal...no one with any sense would purposely move to the city if they intend to enroll their children in the public school system. Many are losing their accreditation. The outlying suburbs are reasonably safe but suffer from the same bad reputation. the rougher parts of town inflict on the whole. It's very difficult for a metropolis to shake a bad reputation...tourists avoid it, and so do new businesses. I'm certain there are sections of Detroit that are very nice...but the image of the aggregate is tarnished by the rotten part of the apple. It's true in a A LOT of cities.

 

That is a complete insult to winners of the award previously...what a joke.

 

Many before him sent the same message. According to your account then, they would all be a joke.

 

Not at all, many of the previous winners actually spread the message and did something to support the message over their lifetime, all BHO did was glad hand and stand on the shoulders of greatness to accept the award. He is the joke, not the award, the fact that you are unable to see this is an abomination to those that came before him. But this is off topic and I do apologize to moderators.

 

Although it is not shocking to hear from Krugman, it is still pretty unbelievable to suggest that the collapse of Detroit was due to market forces. The city has had one of the most corrupt and poorly managed governments in the nation. Just like Stockton, which went bankrupt a year ago, the issue is the city's unjustifiably lavish pension program for government workers. Fully 99.6% of the city’s retiree health-care liabilities are unfunded, and the program generally pays 80% to 100% of retirees’ medical costs. Unfunded obligations account for $9.2 billion of Detroit’s $18 billion debt: $3.5 billion comes from the pension part and $5.7 billion comes from the retiree health-care liability.

This is not to mention that Detroit has the highest tax burden in Michigan, the highest property taxes on homes in the entire United States, the top commercial property tax and the second-highest industrial property tax. Big surprise! People can't afford property taxes, so they move out. Not only is the city a big spender, its a big taxer, and because of it businesses and individuals fled. To fault the free market is absurd at the face.

 

Because conservatives mayors are just as bad as liberal mayors? Squarely pinning this on leftism will not get you anywhere, as Detroit's woes are not as black and white as you like to believe.

 

World peace is something that can never be achieved, plus the Peace Prize is awarded (with some exceptions) to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

So one can make the argument that Obama has done in that in retrospect, since he has stopped the War in Iraq (and yes, I'm aware that it happened two years after he was awarded the prize), committed to helping Afghanistan become a democratic Republic. You get the idea.

Plus, let's be honest here, I really don't care who gets the Nobel peace Prize, as it is one of the most controversial prizes because of the choice of laureates. There was controversy over the choice of Lu Xiaobo back in 2010, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin back in 1994, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in 1989, Luc Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger back in 1973 (which personally, I found that to be hilarious). Humanity will never be universally happy about who gets the Nobel Peace Life, it's just the way it is.

 

That is pretty misleading; while it is true that for a period of time Japan and European cars were better then the big three, nowadays they are pretty much even, as in all of their products vary greatly. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/

Let's take a look at affordable small cars; at #1 is the Mazda 3, while dead last is the Mitsubishi Lancer. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Small-Cars/

 

There is a standing offer to Paul Krugman to debate economic Robert P. Murphy. If Krugman will go toe to to with Murphy, there will be over $100,000 that Mr. Krugman can direct to the charity of his choice. It has been offered for over two years, and Krugman will still not do it.

http://krugmandebate.com/

Now, for just a little bit of Paul Krugman's time, $100,000 or more can go to the charity of his choice. As you say, he's very smart and capable and since he won a Nobel prize he's like God. Therefore, why would he turn down the opportunity to take $100,000 from this opponent, whom he could squash like a bug?

So, would you love to see Krugman debate with an Austrian economist? You too can pledge some money on the line, or maybe send a sincere letter to Mr. Krugman asking him to put this money toward saving a little girl from cancer, or helping the poor, or building homes for Africans. An hour of Mr. Magnificent's time ought to be worth that much?

 

Yeah, your right. Look at how Houston is suffering under Democratic mayor Annise Parker-- oh wait they are #1 in job creation. Well there San Francisco bleeding out jobs under Democratic mayor Ed Lee--- oh wait Forbes ranked them #1 in best big cities for jobs 2013. Nashville under Democrat Karl Dean? #2. San Jose under Democratic Chuck Reed? #3.... http://www.theatlantic.com/business...-juggernaut-is-americas-1-job-creator/275927/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2013/05/06/americas-best-cities-for-jobs-2013/ http://www.forbes.com/pictures/edgl45fedm/methodology-14/

What was the connection?... Oh right; THERE ISN'T.

I really don't think it matters what is the mayor's party affiliation to determine which cities are gaining jobs, or bleeding jobs. Because both sides have mayors that gained jobs during their tenure, and mayors that bled jobs during their tenure.

 

The true story is simple....The GOVERNMENT, in pandering for votes, promised more benefits to employees than they could pay. spent more money on projects than they could fund, and drove business and the middle class out of the tax zone...

The rest is spin

 

We'll, I'll tell you what; first things first. What you need to do is gather up your posse on this forum first, because I've run into quite a few who seem to be experts on Krugman. There are several claims from experts here who say he doesn't know anything and that he is a liar. So, instead of going to some Austrian economist, why not just stay with some of these home grown experts right here? Now I've already asked one on here to prove these things about Krugman on his lying and ignorance on economic subjects, but I think he or she high tailed it out of town when I called them out on it. If you go a few posts back, I'm sure you will come across the person who ignored my requests. But, I'm sure some of the other experts here, won't have any problem in providing me with that much needed information

 

I haven't read the replies to this yet but it must be entertaining.

I agree with you, but most of the libertarians on here will tear this thread to pieces.

The failure of Detroit is like blood in the water for them.

I don't think they realize how old this news really is.

 

Cars in America used to be built in heavy union states up north, they are now mostly built in right to work southern states. My guess is that the union contracts while may not be the leading cause of the failure of the automotive industry, it is not blameless.

 

I have not made any claims about Krugman. The OP claims that what Krugman writes is fact, yet he does not back up his words or Krugman's. I have made no claims other than a post about the debate and money proffered to Krugman simply for getting on the stage with Robert P. Murphy. You make your claims about Krugman, you should back him up. In fact, I'm curious, do you even know what Krugman won the Nobel prize for? It has nothing to do with most of the things that he writes about.

None of us having the opportunity to see $100,000 to go to the charity of our choice by spending the time taking down an economist, so why should we spend the time explaining to you that an OpEd column doesn't equate to factual content? I was pointing out that fans of Krugman have the opportunity to see money taken from person's like myself whilst also watching their hero take down another economist, yet that hero refuses to engage. Why is that? He's had over 2 years to step up and the pool of money only gets larger.

 

Which is like imagining a world without cars. Talk of suppressing technology will get you no where, especially as innovation makes nuclear arms easier and easier to produce. Eventually Nuclear proliferation will be a moot point, any country who wants them, will have them.

And you yourself confuse words with deeds. Gandi didn't simply talk, nor did Martin Luther King, they took action, willingly put themselves at risk. Obama has never had the need nor the compulsion to do so. All he has ever done, is talk at people upon high to the point patronization, and by "people" I don't just mean Americans.

The fact he was leading surge in Afghanistan just as he was receiving the peace prize, made many Europeans look upon the event with disgust. Then they jumped the shark and just awarded the prize to the EU, so it's clear the award has lost any real discernment anyway...

 

Integration has caused disintegration.

By the way, this can't be called a "racist" website just because it doesn't ban people who believe in proven White superiority. A "racist" website would ban people who believe in equality, just as a religious website would ban atheists.

 

No they are not. American cars are still peices of crap.

 

Detroit government suffered from corruption, nepotism, theft by officials, sweetheart deals with the unions, robbing Peter to pay Paul, spending more of the Treasury to build silly things to attract people to a city that had to tax to build those things, which drove away business. Some unions had only one member. In other words, as someone pointed out before, they did not do anything to attract new business which killed the city. They did nothing to quell the bleeding even mayor Coleman Young blaming anyone that criticized the city as racists.

Market forces? Relying on mfg that built sub-standard cars for so many years that people started buying foreign cars that you could actually trust to keep running.

 

GM, in late response to "market forces" built the Vega that blew more power trains than Monica Lewinsky.