Michigan is not America. Don't be quite so self-centric. Michigan has some problems at the moment, but it's not the same everywhere.
Whoa there, now!
No, its not the same everywhere, but its certainly a problem. Joey has it rough on the East side of the State. They're running out of jobs, money, and its certainly showing with the rise in crime rates and drug use. Let it get any worse and we're going to need Robocop and OCP to clean up Detroit again...
...The big problem in Michigan is that we didn't diversify our economy to the extent that it should have been. Here in Grand Rapids we've seen a collapse of not only the automotive industries (most of what we do is third-party contracts), but also the furniture industry, part of what my city was built on. Too much competition from Asian markets is driving Steelcase out of business, and we're suffering...
But, things are FAR better here than what it is anywhere else in the State. Our booming medical field is bringing in investment left and right, and being as close as we are to the lake, Toyota decided to build a factory about two hours south of here.
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The point that I'm getting as it that although the economy sucks here in Michigan, and although it may not be as bad in other cities/states/etc, there is no reason why Michigan needs to suffer like this. Time after time, after time we (as in the State government) decide to screw things up with stupid policies... Furthermore, the Feds do absolutely nothing to help our case further. Yes, I'm an advocate for the free market, but when our jobs are getting sucked out of here with a Mexican-built Hoover vacuum, thats a problem...
...So, we reserve the right to belly-ache. Sure, things are good down in PCB, you've got the tourist dollars funding your town. But when literally NOTHING is going on (take Flint for example), thats when you start to wonder...
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The good news is with the CAD growing and the US dollar shrinking is that jobs will likely return to the United States (hopefully Michigan?) for cheaper labor costs. GM has already said they plan to move more production back to Michigan, but nevertheless, there are things that are closing as well. Ford and Chrysler on the other hand, well, God only knows what they're doing.
Lets hope that with currencies balancing out things have a reason to get better, but then again, its hard to say...