Economy

Detroit’s financial status is once again on the brink of devastation.

The city’s program management director, William Andrews, recently told the advisory board that the city is facing financial crisis.

Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes assessed the city’s situation, looking at its aging bureaucracy as a potential area of conflict.

The collapse could occur sooner than expected, said Howes, perhaps as soon as December.

“It could happen as early as next month. What’s hanging out there right now is about $80 million in bond proceeds that the State Treasurer's Office is holding  more reforms within the city. There is hope they can move ahead with some reforms that would release around $30 million by the end of the year. It’s really important to note that time is running out for the city,” said Howes.

Labor unions have suffered something of an image crisis over the past decade.

People blame their presence for convoluting many political and economic conversations.

But, according to Harley Shaiken, the unions’ place in society is far from extinct.

Shaiken is a professor of education and geography at University of California, Berkeley.

He addressed the problems currently facing labor unions as well as their past triumphs.

“Overall the public opinion polls are favorable when people are asked if they would join a union,” said Shaiken.

According to Shaiken, the economic gloom of states’ economies cannot entirely be blamed on labor unions.

Michigan’s home builders are more optimistic now than they’ve been in several years.

A new survey by the Home Builders Association of Michigan shows improving housing starts and other trends give home builders and remodelers hope that they're emerging from the recession.    He says some markets, like Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, are already seeing an increase.

“Trends are all trending upward,” says Robert Filka, the association’s CEO, “We’re very optimistic about the outlook for the industry.”

As the year’s Presidential Campaign comes to a close, both parties focus on Chrysler’s future plans concerning Jeep.

In a recent ad, Governor Romney claimed Jeep had plans of moving its production to China, a claim that was soon refuted by the company.

David Shepardson, the Detroit News Washington Bureau Chief, talked to Stateside to help clarify the confusion surrounding the ad. According to Shepardson, the ad acts more as a reflection of the race’s desperation than a document of the auto industry’s future.

Lansing airport officials say a new expansion will help spur international business in mid-Michigan.

Capitol Region Airport officials officially opened their new “Port Lansing” foreign trade zone today. Goods that come into the trade zone are exempt from customs tariffs and merchandise that's shipped from the zones is exempt from duty payments.

Robert Selig is the president of the Capitol Region Airport Authority. He says the foreign trade zone designation will give mid-Michigan businesses a chance to get involved in international trade.

Detroit’s home foreclosure rates are dropping.

Realty Trac reports Detroit now has the 39th highest home foreclosure rate in the country. That's a big change from a few years ago, when Detroit routinely ranked in the top ten.

In September,  Detroit’s home foreclosure rate was at its lowest point since September, 2006. 

Daren Bloomquist is with Realty Trac.    He says Detroit’s foreclosure numbers are improving, but he says more than half of Wayne County homeowners are ‘underwater” on their mortgages.