Help with research paper...Why Michigan is struggling so much.

[pistonsfan70]

I am not a lazy student.....just like to know resources on some opinions shared here because I do not know many of them outside of local/national newspapers.

Already have quite a bit of information, just would like to tie it together.

[deslok]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Michigan would not be struggling if America had never benefitted and prospered from European economic powers virtually destroying each others economies via back to back world wars. The destruction of European economies virtually gave the US a monopoly in global trade. The world demanded goods and services from nearly every sector of the US economy, given the devastation of their own. Few countries could produce what we produced either due to lack of knowledge, financing, knowhow infrastructure or all of the above and more. So our nation built stuff for its citizens and more importantly for the world. We became the largest exporter and creditor nation in the world from this virtual monopoly created from the misfortunes of others, as well as what is called American ingenuity and drive.

Michigan benefitted and prospered greatly from that era by being the capital of a major industry sector, namely automobile production. The state rode the boom in Americas manufacturing preeminence to prosperity and hence the state is now riding bust of the loss of comparative economic advantage in the manufacturing sector. It’s not a “Michigan” problem in origin, but rather a national problem. It’s a mistake to look at Michigan as the source of the problem when Michigan is simply an affect or symptom of a national problem. Michigan will have many other states joining it in decline in the near future as the country as a whole is facing an economic crisis. The problem for Michigan is that it does not have its own currency or central bank or the luxury of not balancing its budget like the Federal government can do and prop up the economy.

If we hadn't prospered, we wouldn't know what trouble is to begin with, we would be far worse off and in a even poorer situation, yet probably not as alarmed since we knew no better. It is a national problem but Michigan does not have as diverse an economy as other states, and will suffer more until it finds a way to keep people.