The Fall of Windsor Ontario, Canada’s Detroit

August 30, 2009
The Economist reports that the collapse of Detroit’s auto industry has had a ripple effect up north, particularly in Windsor, Ontario.
“FOR almost a century the fate and fortune of Windsor, Ontario, have been intertwined with those of Detroit, Michigan. General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler made cars on both sides of the Detroit River, sending parts and vehicles back and forth at will. Windsorites worked in the car plants, loyally bought the cars, followed American sports teams, and thought nothing of driving over the Ambassador Bridge or popping through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel for a night on the town.
So the collapse into bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler has brought Windsor down along with Detroit. A blue-collar city of 273,000 people, Windsor now has the highest jobless rate in Canada (14.4%) and faces an uncertain future.”

The Economist reports that the collapse of Detroit’s auto industry has had a ripple effect up north, particularly in Windsor, Ontario.

“FOR almost a century the fate and fortune of Windsor, Ontario, have been intertwined with those of Detroit, Michigan. General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler made cars on both sides of the Detroit River, sending parts and vehicles back and forth at will. Windsorites worked in the car plants, loyally bought the cars, followed American sports teams, and thought nothing of driving over the Ambassador Bridge or popping through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel for a night on the town.

So the collapse into bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler has brought Windsor down along with Detroit. A blue-collar city of 273,000 people, Windsor now has the highest jobless rate in Canada (14.4%) and faces an uncertain future.”

From: http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14140341

Re-thinking Cash for Clunkers

August 24, 2009

The model that I created for my master’s thesis was recently published online so you can actually play around with it (using iseesystems NetSim software).  Check it out at their blog:

http://blog.iseesystems.com/stories-from-the-field/rethinking-cash-for-clunkers/

and then check out the model:  http://forio.com/service/netsims/netsim/clunkers/index.html.

By combining a two-way price signal – getting people to buy ‘clean cars’ instead of ‘dirty cars’ while convincing them to get rid of their polluting cars – we may see pollution decrease dramatically.    However, its a difficult money situation to manage – as the feds are figuring out for themselves!

32 Story Single Family House!

August 6, 2009
,

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/florida-highrise-has-32-106022.html

Now that’s one big, lonely building.

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