Decline of USA

[fyrOM]

Детроит ќе стане голема бавча

13.03.2010

http://www.vest.com.mk/?ItemID=8CE4BAC60C49E544A884444C28BF3B40

Работејќи на ниво досега неиспробано во САД, градот ќе ги демолира куќите во некои од најотсечените квартови на Детроит и ќе ги пресели жителите во постабилните населби Околу една четвртина од градот со површина од 360 квадратни километри ќе се претвори од урбана во полурурална

ДЕТРОИТ (АП) - Детроит, кој беше симбол на американската индустриска сила скоро цел 20 век, ќе спроведе радикален план за обновување кој ќе подразбира огромни површини од сега веќе разорениот, рѓосан град да се претворат во полиња и обработлива површина какви што беа пред појавувањето на автомобилите.
Работејќи на ниво досега неиспробано во САД, градот ќе ги демолира куќите во некои од најотсечените квартови на Детроит и ќе ги пресели жителите во постабилните населби. Околу една четвртина од градот со површина од 360 квадратни километри ќе се претвори од урбана во полурурална.
Во близина на центарот овошни насади и бавчи со зеленчук ќе ги заменат соседствата кои се морничава глетка од празни згради и празни парцели. Жителите на приградските населби кои патуваат до градот ќе треба да поминуваат како низ село за да дојдат до градот. Оние населби што ќе преживеат во родното место на автомобилската индустрија ќе станат пространи зелени површини.
Идејата за ова беше првпат спомната во 90-тите, кога распаѓањето на градот почна да се шири. Сега, кога рецесијата сe повеќе го тоне градот кон пропаст, сe поблиску е одлуката како да се продолжи понатаму. Градоначалникот Дејв Бинг, кој лани дојде на функцијата, се очекува месецов да открие некои детали во неговото обраќање за состојбата на градот.
"Сега почнуваме да мислиме на нештата кои беа незамисливи", изјави Џејмс В. Хјуџис, декан на Факултетот за просторно планирање и јавна политика и еден од урбаните експерти кој со голема заинтересираност внимателно го следи експериментот. "Сега е јасно дека нема да се вратат славните денови. Некои луѓе можеби не го прифаќаат тоа, но ова е реалноста".
Значењето на она што е веќе почнато сега се проширува низ целиот град.
"Луѓето се плашат", вели Дебора Л. Јангер, која порано била извршен директор на групата Корпорација за поддршка на локалните иницијативи во Детроит, која работи на ревитализација на пет области во градот. "Кога ќе прочитате дека ќе снема цели населби, тоа влева страв".
Иако се има волја за намалување на градот, начинот на изведување е нејасен и исполнет со проблеми. Мора да се донесат политички експлозивни одлуки за тоа кои населби да бидат срамнети со булдожер, а кои да се средат.
Ќе се потрошат стотици милиони долари федерални пари за да се купи земјиште, да се изградат згради и да се преселат жителите, бидејќи градот кој е во очајна финансиска состојба нема пари за тоа да го направи сам. Не се знае колку луѓе од градот во кој претежно живеат работници со афроамериканско потекло ќе бидат преселени, но може да станува збор за илјадници. Некои од нив нема да заминат своеволно.
"Ми се допаѓа вака како што е", вели Дејвид Хардин (60) чијшто бунгалов е еден од трите вселени домови во целиот блок со празни живеалишта лоциран во близина на местото познато како Градски аеродром. Тој живее тука од 1976 година, кога сите домови на улицата биле вселени и вели дека ужива во мирот и тишината.
Во поголемиот дел од 20 век Детроит беше индустриска електрана - градот што ја стави Америка на тркала. Работниците од фабриките живееа во населби од едноставни еднокатни и двокатни куќи и одеа пеш до работа. Потоа фабриките почнаа да се затвараат една по една. После протестите од 1967 година се забрза иселувањето на белците кон предградијата, а по нив заминаа и голем број црнци од средната класа.
Градот кој во 50-тите имаше скоро 2 милиони жители, денес е скоро преполовен по број на население. Во некои квартови вселени се само една до две куќи, опкружени со парцели полни со ѓубре и празни, изгорени куќи. Скитниците собрале сe што вреди од празните згради. Според една неодамнешна проценка, во Детроит има 33.500 празни куќи и 91.000 празни станбени парцели.
Неколку други индустриски градови во опаѓање, како Јангстаун и Охајо, веќе го прифатија стеснувањето. Од 2005 година наваму Јангстаун руши по неколку стотици куќи годишно. Меѓутоа плановите за Детроит го засенуваат ова. Слободниот простор во Детроит од 103 квадратни километри е поголем од цел Јангстаун. Бинг, кој се соочува со дефицит на буџетот од 300 милиони долари и опаѓање на даночната основа, вели дека градот нема да може да плаќа за полициски патроли, противпожарна заштита и други служби за низ целиот град.
Со моменталниот план ќе бидат срушени околу 10.000 куќи и празни згради за три години и ќе се инвестира во нови поздрави населби. Во населбите што ќе бидат срамнети, градот ќе им понуди на жителите да ги пресели или да им го купи местото. Градот ќе може да бара право над земјиштето во случаи на запленување поради неплатен данок и да се повика на правото државата да земе приватен посед за јавни цели во случај некој да не сака да си замине, како што се постапува во случај на изградба на автопат.

[fyrOM]

my google translate would not work this morning for some reason. here is the translation.


Detroit will become a big garden

Working level ever neisprobano in the U.S., the city would demolish the houses in some neighborhoods of Detroit najotsechenite and will relocate the residents in neighborhoods postabilnite About one quarter of the city with an area of 360 sq. km will be turned in by urban polururalna

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit, who was a symbol of American industrial strength to almost 20 centuries, will carry out a radical plan for recovery that will mean huge areas of the now razoreniot, rgjosan city to convert to arable land areas and what they were before the appearance car.
Working level ever neisprobano in the U.S., the city would demolish the houses in some neighborhoods najotsechenite of Detroit and will relocated residents in postabilnite settlements. About one quarter of the city with an area of 360 sq. km will be turned in by urban polururalna.
Near the center of fruit orchards and terrace with vegetables will replace the neighborhoods that are eerie sight of the empty buildings and empty plots. Residents of suburban neighborhoods, traveling up the city will have to pass through the village like to get to town. Those villages that will survive in the birthplace of the automobile industry will become more spacious green areas.
The idea for this was first mentioned in the 90s, when the disintegration of the city began to spread. Now that recession is sinking more and more things to end, everything is closer as the decision to proceed. Mayor Dave bingo, which last year came in as expected this month to reveal some details in his speech on the state of the city.
"Now we begin to think of things that were unthinkable," said James Tues Hjudzhis, dean of the Faculty of Physical Planning and Public Policy and one of the urban experts who with great interest in closely monitoring the experiment. "It is now clear that he would not return the famous days. Some people might not accept it, but this is reality."
Meaning of what is already begun now extends throughout the city.
"People are afraid," said Deborah L.. Janger, which formerly was executive director of the Corporation to support local initiatives in Detroit, working on revitalization of the five areas in the city. "When I read that whole villages would disappear, it flows fear.
Although there will be reduction of the city, way of performance is unclear and full of problems. Must be made politically explosive decisions about which neighborhoods are razed by bulldozers, which can be ordered.
We will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to buy land to build buildings and to move residents because the city which is in desperate financial condition is not money to do it alone. It is unclear how many people from the city in which most workers live afroamerikansko origin will be moved, but could it comes to thousands. Some of them will not leave willingly.
"I like this way as it is," said David Hardin (60) whose bungalow is one of three vseleni homes around the block with empty dwellings located near the site known as City Airport. He lived here from 1976, when all homes were on the street and says vseleni enjoy peace and quiet.
In most of the 20th century, Detroit was an industrial power plant - the city that put America on wheels. Factory workers lived in neighborhoods of simple and ednokatni двокатни houses and went on foot to work. Then the factories began to zatvaraat one by one. After protests from 1967 to expedite the emigration of whites to the suburbs, and went after them and many middle-class blacks.
The city in which 50 deaths were nearly 2 million people, is now almost halved in number of population. In some quarters vseleni only one or two houses, surrounded by plots filled with trash and empty, burned houses. Wanderers gathered everything worth of empty buildings. According to one recent estimate, in Detroit has 33,500 empty houses and 91,000 vacant residential land.
Several other industrial cities in decline as Jangstaun and Ohio, have already accepted the narrowing. From 2005 onwards Jangstaun destroyed several hundred houses per year. But plans for the Detroit zasenuvaat this. Free space in Detroit than 103 square miles is greater than the goal Jangstaun. Bingo, which is facing a budget deficit of 300 million dollars and a declining tax base, says the city can not pay for police patrols, fire protection and other services throughout the city.
With the current plan will be demolished about 10,000 houses and empty buildings for three years and will invest in new settlements welcomed. The settlements will be razed, the city will offer the residents to relocate or to buy the place. The city can claim over land in cases of seizure for unpaid taxes and to invoke the right to take private country estate for public purposes in case someone wants to leave as act in the case of construction of the highway.

[fyrOM]

Is China Planning to Send the USA Broke?
Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Money Morning

China, despite being a centrally planned economy, has at least grown it's economy by producing lots of things that people want at a cheaper rate than anyone else.

Western businesses and consumers have bought all those things, largely on credit. And, in return for selling things to the West, the Chinese receive some goods, but mostly it receives a bunch of depreciating paper currency.

As far as the Chinese are concerned, as long as the West is still buying, and as long as the paper currency retains some value then both sides are happy with the deal.

The problem occurs when neither side likes the deal anymore? And that's the stage we're at right now.

The West doesn't like it because they're spending more money than they earn, and they don't like it that the Chinese are competing 'unfairly' due to a lower currency. And the Chinese don't like it because the West is just giving the Chinese paper money in exchange for manufactured goods.

They don't like the fact that all the paper currency they've got isn't worth what it used to be. And now they're worried that the US government is going to make things worse.

What are China's options? The simple answer is they've got to get rid of those dollars - dump them. Wherever they can - Australia, Argentina, Africa, back to America... anywhere, it doesn't matter.

The problem for the West is, dumping currency isn't like dumping rubbish at the tip. You dump some stinky old lounge suite at the local tip and no-one cares.

You dump $50 billion of cash on the market and, well, everyone's paying attention. But here's the real problem for the West.

If the Chinese just dumped all their US dollars and bought Yuan, that would naturally weaken the US dollar, strengthen the Yuan and potentially have a negative impact on China's exports. That's exactly what the West is saying the Chinese should do.

So right now, just dumping dollars isn't an option. Instead the Chinese want to get something in return. After all, they'll argue they've earned it.

In effect the Chinese are looking to exchange their soon-to-be-worthless US dollars for things it hopes will retain or rise in value. That could be oil, iron ore, copper, and even entire companies if national regulators will let them.

But once it's got all that stuff, what are they going to do with it?

The answer seems clear - use it. Hence the billions of dollars spent on constructing skyscrapers, freeways, shopping malls and power stations. So what if there isn't the demand to use it yet.

Perhaps the Chinese are just making an investment decision on which is of most value. Is it USD$100 billion in US bonds or fifty skyscrapers with no one to fill them? At the moment the skyscrapers seem to be winning out.

If you've got cash in the bank and you can see that measures are being taken to devalue that cash, then why not build those fifty skyscrapers now? In a year's time they may only be able to build forty skyscrapers for the same cost.

When you've got trillions of dollars worth of US dollar investments, each extra dollar you get is of less value to you.

Over the last few years that's exactly what the Chinese have done. They've saved and now they're spending.

The argument all along has been that China is growing because it's a great new industrialised nation. It's building and making stuff for the West, plus it's building and making stuff for its own people.

Perhaps it's doing that. But maybe there's a chance it's just building stuff in order to get rid of all those US dollars.

Is that so far-fetched?

And maybe an added bonus for the Chinese is that this plan will end up sending the US broke. Not by doing something fancy with US treasury bills or with exchange rates, but rather spending as much of its stash of US dollars as it can in return for other assets.

Take the recent numbers from the International Energy Agency, China's oil demand increased 28% compared with last year.

Reading that news we're just left scratching our heads trying to figure out how it's going to use all that oil. Surely global economic demand isn't going to pick up that much.

Or maybe with all those savings in US dollars the Chinese figure that oil makes a better investment than cash. Or that it will use the oil to make and build stuff no one needs. Whatever it is they end up with, it's got to be better than holding US paper currency or bonds.

But perhaps all this is just crazy talk. Who knows? Right now China has the upper hand. It's a net saver, it produces products that are in demand, and it's able to buy as many foreign assets as it wants.

Which all seems rather similar to when the US was building its economic empire.

In contrast, the US is a net borrower, it produces some products that are in demand, but it isn't able to buy foreign assets without going further into debt.

While that may not be painting the same picture as the former Soviet Union, it's certainly painting the picture of an economy in decline.