Detroit has faced the steepest population decline of any American city in recent decades. Once the fifth largest U.S. city — the proud birthplace of the U.S. automotive industry and Motown music — it now ranks 18th with about 700,000 people after suffering a 25 percent decline in population between 2000 and 2010.It is this last factor – labor costs of a bygone era – that has crippled many of the efforts to turn Detroit around. With deeply entrenched unions acting as an immovable object, unwilling to give an inch on pay or benefits, or give up any of their power, it's understandable reform has been almost impossible. Decades of blue-model rule has reduced Detroit to the level of many Third World countries.
With the exodus of residents and jobs as the auto industry contracted, the city has suffered from declining tax revenue and rising crime while saddled with the infrastructure and labor costs of a bygone era.
Block after block of abandoned homes and commercial buildings, failing infrastructure, labors costs that are extortionate, and a decades long love affair with tax-and-spend fiscal policies have shown how the blue-model fails.
If Detroit falls, it might shake loose the almost fanatical beliefs of many that government can do it all. The question is will it change enough beliefs or will those firmly set Leftist economic beliefs merely put blindfolds over their eyes and cover their ears, shrieking “La-la-la-la-la! I'm not listening! I'm not listening!” and continue their efforts to lead the rest of down that same road to ruin? If I had to guess, I'd say it will be more of the latter rather than the former.