Detroit Becomes Largest US City to File for Bankruptcy
BBC News, 18 July 2013 Last updated at 22:50 GMT
Detroit has lost a quarter of a million residents in the past decade
The US city of Detroit in Michigan has become the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15bn (£10bn).
State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr asked a federal judge to place the city into bankruptcy protection.
If it is approved, he would be allowed to liquidate city assets to satisfy creditors and pensions.
Detroit stopped unsecured-debt payments last month to keep the city running as Mr Orr negotiated with creditors.
He proposed a deal last month in which creditors would accept 10 cents for every dollar they were owed. Mr Orr suggested at the time there was a 50-50 chance of the city needing to file for bankruptcy.
He also said the city's long-term debt could be between $17bn and $20bn.
'Only Alternative'
At a press briefing on Thursday, Mr Orr said filing for bankruptcy was the "first step toward restoring the city".
Alongside him, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said that residents had to make a new start.
"I really didn't want to go in this direction - but now that we are here, we have to make the best of it," Mr Bing said.
The mayor also assured residents that the city would stay open and bills would be paid despite the filing.
"Paychecks for our city employees will continue, services will continue," he said.
In a letter accompanying Thursday's filing, Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, said he had approved the request from Mr Orr to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
"Only one feasible path offers a way out," Gov Snyder said, adding that residents needed a clear exit from the "cycle of ever decreasing services".
"The only way to do those things is to radically restructure the city and allow it to reinvent itself without the burden of impossible obligations.
"It is clear that the financial emergency in Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is available".
Meanwhile, the White House said it was closely monitoring developments in Detroit.
"While leaders on the ground in Michigan and the city's creditors understand that they must find a solution to Detroit's serious financial challenge, we remain committed to continuing our strong partnership with Detroit as it works to recover and revitalise and maintain its status as one of America's great cities," said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage.
Analysts say there are some concerns that businesses might ditch their operations in Detroit.
But, in the wake of the filing, US car company General Motors said it did not expect any impact on its operations, and hoped it would mark a "clean start" for Detroit.
"GM is proud to call Detroit home and today's bankruptcy declaration is a day that we and others hoped would not come," the company said.
The city, once renowned as a manufacturing powerhouse, has struggled with its finances for some time, driven by a number of factors, including a steep population loss.
Between 2000-10, the number of residents declined by 250,000 as residents moved away.
Detroit's government has also been hit by a string of corruption scandals over the years.
Declining investment in street lights and emergency services have made it difficult to police the city.
Detroit is only the latest US city to file for bankruptcy in recent years.
In 2012, three California cities - Stockton, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino - took the step.
In 2011, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania tried to file for bankruptcy but the move was ruled illegal.
But Thursday's move in Detroit is significantly larger than any of the earlier filings.
Quote:
Detroit in Decline- Population has shrunk from a peak of 2 million in the 1950s to 713,000 today
- Highest violent crime rate of any major US city, with 15,245 reported incidents in 2011
- Some 78,000 abandoned and blighted buildings
- 40% of street lights do not work
- Only a third of the city's ambulances are in service
- Just 53% of owners paid their 2011 property taxes
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Quote:
Analysis
-Jonny Dymond, Washington correspondent
Detroit's fall is complete.
It is a depressing, if inevitable, end to a grotesque saga of decline, corruption and mismanagement. The irony is that the bankruptcy comes just as the private sector is picking up in Motor City. There is a buzz downtown, with commercial and residential occupancy at record levels.
But public services are in a state of near collapse. Around 70,000 properties lie abandoned. Great swathes of the city need to be written off. For some, the announcement will come as some kind of relief. When I was last there business leaders told me that some kind of decision had to be taken about the city's future - that agonising limbo was unsustainable.
The problem now is not just image. Bankruptcy looks bad. But Detroit is already a poster child for urban failure. Nor is it just about being locked out of capital markets - few would lend to the city anyway. But bankruptcy could take years to sort out, when Detroit's real world problems need urgent remedies.
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Very sad
RELATED:
Schiff: 2/3 of America to Lose
Everything Because of This Crisis
By
Money Morning Staff
A record breaking stock market is distorting a frightening reality: The U.S. is being eaten alive by a horrific cancer that will ultimately destroy the economy and impoverish the vast majority of its citizens.
That's according to Peter Schiff, the best-selling author and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, who delivered his harsh warning to investors in a recent interview on
Fox Business.
"I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we had in 2007," Schiff said. "You're going to have a collapse in the dollar...a huge spike in interest rates... and our whole economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple when you pull the rug out from under it."
Schiff says that, despite "phony" signs of an economic recovery, the cancer destroying America stems from a lethal concoction of our $16 trillion federal debt and the Fed's never ending money printing.
Currently, Bernanke and company is buying $1 trillion of Treasury and mortgage bonds a year. That's about $85 billion per month against a budget deficit that is about the same level.
According to Schiff, these numbers are unsustainable. And the Fed has no credible "exit strategy."
Eventually interest rates will rise... and when they do, Schiff says, stocks will tank and bonds dip to nothing. Massive new tax hikes will be imposed and programs and entitlements will be cut to the bone.
"The crisis is imminent," Schiff said. "I don't think Obama is going to finish his second term without the bottom dropping out. And stock market investors are oblivious to the problems."
"We're broke, Schiff added. "We owe trillions. Look at our budget deficit; look at the debt to GDP ratio, the unfunded liabilities. If we were in the Eurozone, they would kick us out."
Schiff points out that the market gains experienced recently, with the Dow first topping 14,000 on its way to setting record highs, are giving investors a false sense of security.
"It's not that the stock market is gaining value... it's that our money is losing value. And so if you have a debased currency... a devalued currency, the price of everything goes up. Stocks are no exception," he said.
"The Fed knows that the U.S. economy is not recovering," he noted. "It simply is being kept from collapse by artificially low interest rates and quantitative easing. As that support goes, the economy will implode."
A noted economist, Schiff has been a fierce critic of the Fed and its policies for years. And his warnings have proven to be prophetic.
In August 2006, when the Dow was hitting new highs nearly every day, Schiff said in an interview: "The United States is like the Titanic, and I'm here with the lifeboat trying to get people to leave the ship... I see a real financial crisis coming for the United States."
Just over a year later, the meltdown that became the Great Recession began, just as Schiff predicted.
He also predicted the subprime mortgage bubble burst, nearly a year before the real estate market fully crashed.
His recent warnings, however, have been even more alarming. Will they also prove to be true?
In his most recent book, "
The Real Crash" How to Save Yourself and Your Country", Schiff writes that when the "real crash" comes," it will be worse than the Great Depression.
Unemployment will skyrocket, credit will dry up, and worse, the dollar will collapse completely, "wiping out all savings and sending consumer prices into the stratosphere."
Schiff estimates this "cancer" could consume a trillion dollars from consumers this year.
"Today we're the world's greatest debtor nation. Companies, homeowners and banks are so highly leveraged, rising interest rates will be devastating."
According to polls, the average American is indeed sensing danger. A recent survey found that 61% of Americans believe a catastrophe is looming - yet only 15% feel prepared for such a deeply troubling event.
Is Devastation The Ultimate Cure?
Despite its bleak outlook, Schiff's book has become a real wake-up call for millions of readers.
While Schiff's predictions can be grim, he also offers step-by-step solutions that average Americans can follow to protect their wealth, investments and savings.
According to Schiff, "the crash and what follows" can be beneficial. But only for those who understand beforehand what is happening and have time to prepare for the devastation.
"All we can do now is prepare for the crash," Schiff said. "If we brace ourselves properly and control the impact, we will survive it."
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