fully 30% of the goods produced to win world war two was manufactured in detroit
i believe that ramping up of production and workers during the 40's is why detroit experienced population declines beginning in the 50's
our nation's golden age
we were the only industrial nation without a destroyed infrastructure
"made in the USA" caused the product bearing that legend to be prized, both at home and abroad
but since that time, when there was no real international competition, the rest of the industrialized world re-tooled
they became competitive, and competitors
their markets, which had become our markets, returned to buying domestic made goods
so, our global market began to shrink
and instead of re-investing infrastructure, to remain dominant, we used those monies as dividends to the share holders
and after the first oil embargo, the seeds of detroit's ultimate decline were sown
reliable, cheap, small cars, something detroit honchos insisted were not wanted by American drivers, were provided by japan, eroding detroit's share of our domestic market
while it is now 27 years old,
The Reckoning remains the most incisive account of what went wrong with detroit in particular and the USA in general.
When Nissan Had a Better Idea
and the stark reality is detroit is now bankrupt. comparative advantage is much to blame. but a large degree of blame is due to the executives, in the big three, in the unions, and in the local government, who promised what they could not pay in the future for labor needed today
and there is also the culture of the resident community. here is a VERY telling stat:
only 7 percent of the eighth graders are grade-level proficient or better in reading Only 7% of Detroit Public-School 8th Graders Proficient in Reading | CNS News
detroit has become a city where education is not valued; probably because of its history of being a place where those without a significant education could thrive
but we are now in the information age. and much of detroit is not
now back to its legacy of building what the government required, back when it was essential to our nation's survival
if a manufacturer/service provider located and operated from detroit produces what it proposes to sell to the federal sector, that bidder should have its bid evaluated at 10% less than all other non-detroit bidders. for instance, detroit corp bids $1 million. for purposes of evaluating its bid with other bidders, that price will be shown to be $900,000 [the company would still be awarded a $1 million contract, the discount is only for purposes of bid competition]. if it wins the bid, and such advantage should gain many won bids, contractors will soon flock to detroit to set up shop. not only would they pay local taxes, and hire local employees (where qualified), they will bring a motivation to elevate the skill set of the local work force, so that detroit could once again become both competitive and solvent