The South Can Rise Again

Once we get through the current economic mess, certain cities and places will emerge winners and losers. The government can pour endless taxpayer dollars to prop up the Midwest car companies, but turning Detroit around looks like a fools errand. The downward spiral began decades ago–precipitated by union unreality and management short-sightedness. Overseas competitors now set up shop in Southern right to work states, paying assembly line employees less in more state-of-the-art factories without cumbersome work rules. GM, Chrysler and to a lesser extent Ford kept lobbying and forestalling higher fuel efficiency standards, while building gas guzzlers in aging factories. These companies have been managed as if their leaders fiddle in a “That Seventies Show” time warp