Detroit Ground Zero for Economic Collapse Pt 4
Thin Ice From Here to the Horizon By ALEXANDER COCKBURN On any rational assessment the favourite new president is skating on thin ice. Pollyanna bulletins about the economy puff up from the White Home and Federal Reserve, like auguries of a new Pope through the Vatican chimney. Habemus spem. We have hope. Weve just heard it from President Obama: “We are starting to see glimmers of hope crossways the economy.” From Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, whos so far unleashed $12 trillion in booster money, we get the always sinister reassurance, like Death giving the Appointee in Samarra a friendly tap on the shoulder, “the foundations of our economy are strong”. The economic news in the near and medium term is ghastly, as Mike Whitney outlined on this site last Thursday. Retail income crashed again in March, nowhere worse than in the automobile market, though electronics and building materials were way off too. They now reckon therell be just over two million housing foreclosures in 2009, up 400,000 from 2008. Industrial output is going through the floor at an annual rate of 20 per cent, the biggest quarterly drop since the end of the Second World War. US industry is now running at only 70 per cent of capacity, the worst number since they started tracking this stat in 1967. Job losses are currently running at 650,000 a month. Round the next corner is credit card delinquency and the long-heralded slump in commercial real estate, where vacancy rates are already running at 15 per cent,. Capital One, a large issuer of Visa and Mastercard, just stated the annualized net charge-off rate for U.S. credit cards — debts the company reckons will never be paid — rose to 9.33 percent in March from 8.06 percent in February. In other words, Capital One whose credit card promotions take up hefty space in the mailbag of each US postman is in large trouble, and under one in ten of these credit card holders will have a messed up credit rating for several years to come. Wall Street and its boosters are trying to pretend that indeed the worst is over. The Dow and S&P Index have been rallying for five weeks. Wells Fargo, the large San Francisco-based bank, second biggest home lender, announced that first quarter net income rose 50 per cent to $3 billion. No one seriously believes the bank is in anything other than continuing large trouble, and will soon need so Blomberg News surmises – $50 billion to settle near-term commitments. The profit figure stems from newly relaxed rules about the valuation of Wells Fargos assets. In other words its thin economic cover from here to the horizon. Robert Reich, now teaching economics at Berkeley and formerly fag secretary in the Clinton administration, wrote a piece recently, titled “Why We’re Not at the Beginning of the End, and Probably Not Even At the End of the Beginning”. There are large problems with the whole orientation of the US economy. The free market outsourcing model has failed. Even at the ideal of times the US consumers who statement for over 70 per cent of all economic activity in the country, dont have purchasing power to keep the whole show on the road, unless they place it on the credit cards which are now maxed out and going into default, or borrow on houses they cant afford. Amid a hail of well founded criticism from liberal and conservative economists alike, Obama, with Geithner, Summers and Bernanke at his elbow, remains totally committed to giving the bankers everything they ask for, trillion upon trillion. As William Black, deputy director at the former Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. during the thrift crisis of the 1980s, recently remarked in an acrid interview in Barrons, (reprinted here last week) Unless the current administration changes course pretty drastically, the scandal will destroy Obama’s administration, both economically and in terms of integrity. We have unsuccessful bankers giving advice to unsuccessful regulators on how to deal with unsuccessful assets. How can it result in anything but failure?
Duration : 0:7:10
Mastercard: George W Bush - [2Crazy2Watch]
Can you help me out …
Can you help me out with my Zhongwen? I’ve always wanted to visit HK.
Hamtramck on the …
Hamtramck on the citys eastside was once a white ghetto slash euro ghetto,so is hazel park ans southside warren those were and still are aomewhat white ghettos around detroit
I am actually …
I am actually studying economics and logistgics at college. You mentioned that they are building new rail lines in China. Would you say that there is oppurtunity for me in Hong Kong to start my own rail company?
Well the Union …
Well the Union Blacks upper management lost there Jobs and THATS why you see the Expensive houses. started. Look at the ground. already Old Cast tub tub dumped. A steel hub off a car.
Look at the broken glass in the windows. Already the Blacks are vandalizing theses homes.
@bigalwillis
…
@bigalwillis
BULLSHIT its has NOTHING to do with the police NOT caring. Its when the Blacks move into more blocks then the white flight happens. Now you increased crime 500% , HUGE Welfare Base. NO Taxes to the city that come DIRECTLY from Working People. You HAVE to have that to have Business Profit and MORE TAX MONEY goes to city to Pay for Police/Fire Etc.
See any WHITE GHETTOS IN ANY CITY!!!
Is every been Brainwashed so much you cant see the numbers trail.
once the police …
once the police stop caring and are under staffed crime runs free then the city runs down and money stops coming in . not enough police .
Hey dmimcg, i’ll …
Hey dmimcg, i’ll add to that.
i live in bronx, ny, and the largest police PD in the country is slowly switching their fleet into imports. they’re driving nissan maxima’s in there fleet now, and slowly, but surely converting, a sure slap in the face to americans. THANX CFR DOOMBERG!!
thats sad i ust to …
thats sad i ust to live in detroit i live in a small town in south dakota and the same thing is going on here but not as bad as there makes me sad to see place me and many friends lived in go down like that
We gave away the …
We gave away the soul of our capitalist society…manufacturing. Detroit was the capital of American manufacturing, with the rest of the Great Lake cities contributing to our manufacturing strength. They call this the rust belt for a reason. If you neglect the great shiny things and give them away…..they will rust.
Bombardier, which …
Bombardier, which builds the Learjet, just built a brand new plant in Mexico to make the wings and fuselage for their new long range business jet, so the corporations can travel between countries seeking the cheapest workers. Then, thanks to nafta they will truck those parts to Kansas for assembly. Isn’t it great that our politicians help send jobs to Mexico with our tax dollars. ALL political parties have sold us out. I hate both the Democraps and the Robuplicans.
They Call it the D …
They Call it the D because the can’t afford the rest any longer. Also No one would want to move to the D because Taxes also are very High. Thier Local Goverment Sucks. Just Like most communties ran by the Majority of Democrats. I am an Independent but thats how I see it
I Really enjoy …
I Really enjoy Costa Rica but they are feeling the economic crisis as well. Like almost everyone else
I live in Hong Kong …
I live in Hong Kong. Here we have: a 16% maximum tax rate, a government with no debt, and a huge surplus. New rail lines to China being built, costing billions.
People work d@mn hard here, and do not expect handout from the government. 10 minutes walk from where I live is Mong Kok (crowded corner), the densest habitation on the planet. If people want to live in a house, they pay a huge land premium to the government. USA, you have much to learn, as you sink into poverty.
Black infestation!
Black infestation!
THIS. All the …
THIS. All the government cares about is increasing its own profits and extending its own power, no matter what it takes. They REALLY don’t care about anybody but themselves. They ESPECIALLY don’t give a about the Constitution, the American People, or anybody else. It’s really disgusting the way politicians of both parties and the government are more than willing to us all over to extend their power.
Ron Paul PLEASE save us all.
Moving requires …
Moving requires money. A lot of people don’t have the money to move from wherever they live, so it’s kinda hard for them to move if they don’t like the town they live in.
For example, I know you don’t care, but I LOATHE the town I live in, and would love to move whenever I get even the slightest opportunity. However, I know enough to realize that I have NOWHERE near enough money to achieve those ends, especially with the recession that we’re going through right now.
detroit is so sad, …
detroit is so sad, people don’t even come out theyre hosue its so bad here, if not moved away
Wow so all those …
Wow so all those beautiful homes are just gonna sit there collecting dust because people can not tolerate detroit. I wonder if this city will totally collaspe and fall off the map?
Government is not …
Government is not care about you, WAKE UP!!!
What you need more, you don’t see?
In fact, an awful …
In fact, an awful lot of Americans are leaving America for Mexico, South America, and Costa Rica. I may be one of them soon. I’m not so sure I want to live in a country that has a governent that does nothing for us, but spends trillions on stupid wars overseas. Detroit is a prime example of the destruction of America. Since the real America is now dying. Why stay anymore? Plus, the jobs are moving to Mexico. Time to move and learn Spanish.
Hey, you can’t say …
Hey, you can’t say that on here
You missed the …
You missed the point of this documentary entirely.
This reminds me of …
This reminds me of a line from the late comic Sam Kinnisen, where he said he could solve the plight of starving people in Africa. MOVE!
My question to the maker of this video is, if it sucks so bad to live in Detroit, then why don’t you get the F**K out! LEAVE and move someplace else. It’s still legal in America to move to another state last time I checked. What’s stopping you.
You either don’t …
You either don’t know what Zionism is or your an anti-semite, perhaps both! Why would anyone listen to such ignorance?
niggers ruined …
ruined detroit
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