Detroit and anarcho capitalism.

[DailyPolitrix.]

Turning Detroit into an Anarcho-Capitalist territory. | DailyPolitrix.com

I posted this idea on another thread I don't know if anyone caught it.


But how do you think this would work. The area within the borders of the City of Detroit succeeding somehow and becoming an anarcho capitalist nation state.

- Detroit really has no draw for people to move there. Motown and Auto industry are gone. Its cold so agriculture is basically out of the question.

With no taxes I suspect a real estate boom, real estate investors, people looking for fixer uppers to rent out ,resell , or move in to. Some manufacturing sector in the US would probably relocate there.

I'm just throwing these ideas out there because the City is basically a failed state.

What do you think?

btw I dig this site, Im new but it's interesting reading around and seeing the differing views.

 

[waltky]

Detroit answers bankruptcy critics...

Detroit files response to bankruptcy objections
6 Sept.`13 — Detroit's huge debt, lack of cash to provide residents with some basic services, and the army of creditors demanding money are among the reasons a judge should allow the Motor City's bankruptcy to proceed, attorneys for the city argue in a court filing submitted late Friday.

The 135-page document, which was submitted in U.S. District Court in Detroit, is a response to efforts by more than 100 creditors to get Judge Steven Rhodes to dismiss the city's pursuit of bankruptcy protection. They contend that that emergency manager Kevyn Orr and his restructuring team didn't negotiate with creditors in good faith or seek alternatives to restructure Detroit's finances before filing for bankruptcy on July 18.

Rhodes is scheduled to hear objections to legal issues later this month. A multi-day hearing on objections to material facts was scheduled to start Oct. 23. "Confronting a state-declared 'financial emergency' that includes approximately $18 billion in debt, over 100,000 creditors, over 100 discrete bond issuances and related loans and nearly 50 union bargaining units representing the city's employees ... rendered any out of court solution impracticable," city attorneys wrote in their filing, which was submitted on the last day Rhodes gave them to respond. Since 1954, courts have dismissed 29 of the 62 municipal bankruptcies that have been pursued in the U.S.

The city's biggest employee union, retirees and dozens of residents filed their own objections to the bankruptcy filing last month. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the AFL-CIO and city retirees claimed in their objections that Michigan's emergency manager law, which gives Orr his authority, impairs vested pension rights and violates the state constitution. They also claimed that Orr did not negotiate in good faith with city creditors and that he has not yet proved Detroit is insolvent. "I need my pension for basic human needs," city resident and retiree Mary Dugans wrote last month in her objection. "Additionally, I'm 80 years old with age related medical conditions. Therefore, I have to pay for medical co-pays as well as for prescribed medications. Please consider my situation as you approach this important matter. Thanks."

A spokesman for Orr has said that larger creditors, bond holders, bond insurers and banks likely will make objections during litigation on the city's proposed plan of adjustment, which is slated to be finished by year's end. Orr, who was hired in March to fix Detroit's finances, has said there are no other options for Detroit. The city's budget deficit has hovered near or above $300 million during the past few years. The city's debt includes underfunded obligations of about $3.5 billion for pensions and $5.7 billion for retiree health coverage, according to Orr. Friday's filing states that Detroit meets tests for municipal insolvency in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code because the city wasn't paying its debt as it came due; was cash, budget and service delivery insolvent; and "has experienced and, absent restructuring, will continue to experience negative cash flows for years." Detroit also can't "meaningfully" increase revenues or make any further spending cuts, the city's attorneys wrote.

Detroit files response to bankruptcy objections

 

[waltky]

Update on Detroit bankruptcy progress...

Detroit on 'razor's edge' weeks before bankruptcy
October 24, 2013 — Short of cash, Detroit was delaying payments to vendors and "operating on a razor's edge" weeks before it filed for bankruptcy protection, the head of the city's turnaround team testified Thursday.

Ken Buckfire, a Wall Street investment banker and Detroit-area native, gave the most detailed testimony so far on the second day of a trial that will determine whether the city can stay in bankruptcy court and eventually unsaddle $18 billion in debt. Detroit must show it's broke and tried in good-faith to negotiate with creditors. Unions and pension funds with much money at stake claim the city didn't hold genuine talks and therefore the case should be thrown out. Buckfire's firm, Miller Buckfire, got involved in Detroit's finances before the bankruptcy. He arrived in 2012 as the state of Michigan signed an agreement with the city to make certain changes in exchange for financial support. The deal fell apart and eventually led to the appointment of an emergency manager last March.

Buckfire said many city assets were considered for possible sale but none were viable, including a small airport — "effectively worth nothing" — and the water department, which he described as a "very complicated situation." He said art is being appraised at the Detroit Institute of Arts, a museum that is operated on the city's behalf. By last spring, there were estimates that Detroit soon would be down to just $7 million, a small vein of cash in an annual budget of more than $1 billion, while payments to vendors were repeatedly delayed, Buckfire said. "The city was operating on a razor's edge of liquidity. ... There was nothing of significance that could be converted to cash to avert a cash crisis in June or July," he said.

Protesters rally outside The Theodore Levin United States Courthouse in Detroit, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. The city of Detroit for months has disclosed the awful condition of its finances. Now it’s up to a judge to determine if the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history really can go forward. An unusual trial starts Wednesday, pitting Detroit’s emergency manager and his legal team against unions and pension funds that claim the city isn’t qualified to scrub its books clean under Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Emergency manager Kevyn Orr, appointed by the Michigan governor to run Detroit, announced in June that the city would stop making payments on $2.5 billion in unsecured debt. The Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing came a month later. Lawyers opposed to the bankruptcy asked that much of Buckfire's testimony be stricken. They said he offered too much opinion about finances that went beyond the scope of his role in Detroit. "Part of our job here is to set forth the story of the decisions that were made and the reasons they were made," Detroit attorney Thomas Cullen Jr. told the judge. "This witness has done that. He was an operative figure in real time. ... It has to be admissible." Judge Steven Rhodes said he would defer a decision until Friday.

Another witness, Charles Moore, a turnaround specialist from the Detroit-area firm Conway MacKenzie, talked about his experiences at City Hall. "A number of departments were severely broken ... unable to perform basic functions," he said. Moore said it would cost $500 million over six years to knock down blighted or abandoned buildings and improve vacant properties. A decision on Detroit's eligibility appears to be weeks away. The trial could end next week, but the judge has set a Nov. 13 deadline for lawyers to file legal briefs on certain issues.

Detroit on 'razor's edge' weeks before bankruptcy - Houston Chronicle

 

[Katzndogz]

Those signs the protesters are carrying is an indication of the utter cluelessness of Americans.

The banks lent Detroit money that Detroit could not repay, now they want MORE from the banks to pay the debt to them that Detroit ran up.

Let Detroit go.

Better yet, legalize the illegals, and make Detroit a settlement city for homeless hispanics.

 

[BullKurtz]

- Detroit really has no draw for people to move there. Motown and Auto industry are gone. Its cold so agriculture is basically out of the question.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is proud of the role it plays in assuring a strong, viable food and agriculture industry in our state. We are equally proud of the partnerships we have built with producers, industry organizations, and our federal counterparts, to continually grow our industry. This publication underscores the importance of the food and agricultural sector, Michigan’s second largest industry, to our state’s economy.

The impact of Michigan agriculture on our state’s economy is $73.1 billion and growing. Production agriculture, food processing and related businesses employ over one million Michigan residents. Michigan hasapproximately 10 million acres of farmland, and the state is home to 56,000 farms. More than 33 percent of the state’s total farmland is in some form of preservation agreement.

Michigan produces over 200 commodities on a commercial basis, making the state second only to California in agricultural diversity. In 2010, our annual agriculturalexports generated nearly $1.75 billion. Further, our state leads the nation in the production of 18 commodities and ranks in the top 10 of 30 other commodities.

As Michigan faces the challenge of a changing business environment and workforce, all industries are affected. However, at a time when 850,000 jobs were lost in Michigan,our agricultural economy experienced a decade of growth. The food and agriculture industry expanded at a rate of more than 5 times faster than the rate of the generaleconomy (11.9% v. 2%).

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics...ual_Statistical_Bulletin/stats11/agstat11.pdf

 

[jwoodie]

The ultimate question is whether Detroit will become a ward of the US Government like DC. The answer may turn on next year's Congressional elections.

 

[BullKurtz]

Let's see any city get 2,200 buildings burned in a race-riot and pop back up all fresh and fancy. The auto industry is still there, major corporations are moving back into downtown, Greektown and Corktown are thriving, new stadiums for the Tigers, Lions, and one for the Red Wings soon. Once the bankruptcy is complete, the abandoned buildings will be knocked down, the city limits contracted to a manageable size, and the tax-base returned. Don't worry your pretty little heads about Detroit...they'll be back in business soon enough....your apologies for buying a jap car will be expected soon after.

 

[BullKurtz]

The ultimate question is whether Detroit will become a ward of the US Government like DC. The answer may turn on next year's Congressional elections.

Bullshit.