Quote from: rezin777 on September 21, 2011, 03:15:34 AM

Why would another city be able to weld much cheaper than a city that was built on welding? Did they have incredible new technology that produced better welds for a fraction of the cost? Or were regulations involved?

The main cause would be globalization. Welding could be done much cheaper on the other side of the world. Low tech jobs are the first to go.

Quote from: rezin777 on September 21, 2011, 03:15:34 AM

What's the average union salary versus the average non-union salary? Don't forget benefits. What is the minimum wage in the US? How does that compare to a union salary?

I have absolutely no idea. But I do know that neither can compete with an Indonesian salary for the same job.

Quote from: rezin777 on September 21, 2011, 03:15:34 AM

Are you suggesting that the government programs he mentioned in the video were not applied in Detroit? Or are you disputing that those programs existed at all?

Quote from: rezin777 on September 21, 2011, 03:15:34 AM

I understand the video was biased. I believe he was a republican? Regardless, you seem to ignore the issues due to your own bias. Maybe you could point out some of his specific errors, so I know what you are talking about?

I am absolutely biased. We all are. I'm a very pragmatic person though, and I like to do things that have been proven to work. Or at least avoid things that don't.
One of the things he pointed out was the test results in school, and then blamed that on the teachers union. While they could be a problem, it's unlikely that they're the major part of it. More likely are a myriad of other things, social and financial status of the family for starters. Unless you have an agenda to discredit unions.

Quote from: rezin777 on September 21, 2011, 03:15:34 AM

Are you suggesting Toyota's awesome cars from the 80s destroyed Detroit? Or another city was able to produce automobiles cheaper than Detroit? How would they be able to do that? I thought the automobile industry was quite competitive.

What I'm suggesting is something like that. While I wouldn't point at Toyota specifically, I'd say that the both the politicians and the automakers failed to fully grasp globalization, hoping that things would fix themselves. Mind you that I haven't studied Detroit specifically.

The CEO of FIAT has an interesting analysis about the automotive industry where he predicts that in a decade or two there will be about 5 motor companies worldwide. 1 in Europe, 1 in the US and 3 in Asia. Fiat isn't one of those five, and will have to consolidate with a partner.

You have the same problem with your steel industry and I'd wager that you'll see some major restructuring in that area too. It's only in the start phase yet.