They had this interview with David Littman on the news yesterday and lets just say I’m more convinced than ever that relocating is probably the best idea at this point. (Warning, this video is fairly long.)
The Economic Impact of the Auto Crisis on Michigan from Mackinac Center on Vimeo.
In a nutshell, Michigan unemployment could reach 20% by the end of the year. Mr. Littman also touches on some of the policies he thinks contributed to Michigan’s failing economy.
All-in-all, it’s very frightening.
I’ve had the opinion for a while that Michigan has been mismanaged for decades; certain government policy sounds more like it came out of the 1970s.
A good chunk of our manufacturing supports or supported the automotive industry. I remember some classmates back in High School saying they were skipping college because their parents could get them into their workplace… usually a factory supporting the automotive industry. Back a few months ago (before the bailouts and talk of Chapter 11), one local commercial for GM trucks depicted romanticized views of people working on a farm with the tagline “There’s nothing like a classic.”
Why in the world has Michigan been allowed to remain stagnant? We’ve been allowed to be nothing but manufacturing. Many Michigan towns and cities only have one major employer, with larger ones having maybe 2 or 3. Didn’t they ever ask what would happen if something happened to that employer?
Some of these employers paid ridiculous amounts of money for overly simple jobs. But yet over and over, I see people who were completely unprepared for when they couldn’t be paid that much.
Few went to college with their money and if they did, they went for degrees with very little demand or chose a popular one that now has left the market for that degree saturated. (Really, how many daycares and preschools does a town of 7000 need?)
Yeah, I need to move. *hops off her soapbox*
Tags: Life, Michigan economy, Money, relocate