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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stan_hughes who wrote (80327)	3/25/2007 10:18:55 AM
From: orkrious	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

Check out the foreclosure rate for Detroit -- it's the highest in the country -- it's going to get real oogly again Most of Detroit is a cesspool. The city is broke, its schools are probably among the very worst in the nation, its roads are awful, and outsiders have a very dim view of the place. The auto companies, which are likely to continue to lose mkt share, are going to be a continuous employment drain. On Jefferson Avenue near the water there is a huge black metal fist hanging from some chains. Visitors think it looks like a monument to black power. What is it? It's supposed to be a tribute to Joe Louis's fist. The truth is the city has hit bottom. I really don't see how it can get any worse. The only direction to go from the bottom is up. There are a few bright spots. The area near the Fox Theatre/Comerica Park/Ford Field is improving. When the Tigers are playing the area is alive and fun. A couple of my stepson's friends bought houses near the old Tiger Stadium. If they pay any RE taxes it's minimal...it's a redevelopment area. I've been told the area is like a flower germinating in a garden (the whole city) of manure. I used to say Detroit was a dump but the suburbs are nice. That's no longer that true. The State is broke. Our roads here are like a third-world country's. Houses are for sale everywhere. Store fronts are vacant. Everyone pisses and moans about the economy. Here's a typical article from this morning's paper about the finances of many cities. Suburbs are struggling to pay the bills freep.com We do have some very pretty countryside. There are hundreds of lakes and, on a per capita basis, we have more golf courses than any other state in the country. The northern part of the lower peninsula is absolutely gorgeous. I am sure our state government is as inept as any other state's. Lawmakers don't even have their personal lives in order. (There was a story in this morning's paper about a congressman from Detroit who was a traffic scofflaw. He drove without a valid drivers license on expired plates, yet he is on the panel which oversees the auto insurance industry.) Everyone squabbles over petty shit while the State burns. I believe (but I'm not certain) 20% of the State's budget goes to prisons, but some huge percentage (35-40%???) of the prison population is incarcerated for drug crimes. You'd think they'd be smart enough to decriminalize drugs. I know what caused Detroit's problems. It hasn't been the decline of the auto industry. Yes, the industry would have been a noose around the city's neck. But its problems were set in motion 30 years ago buy Coleman Young, a racist mayor who drove all of the whites out of the city. Still, I think Detroit and southeast Michigan is a picture of where the rest of the country is headed. Our whole country is bankrupt, has inept politicians, and manufacturers little. We've been seduced by easy money and promises of the American dream into thinking there can be perpetual prosperity for all. Other cities in the country may not end up being as bad a Detroit is, but just about everyplace is headed for the same problems Michigan has. I actually think Michigan will be a mecca of sorts in the future, probably within two generations. What does Michigan have? Water. Things go in cycles. Detroit has hit bottom. Michigan isn't there yet but it's a lot closer than everywhere else in the US. I think things are looking up. <g>