MSU Mankato Bloomberg Seven Years After Bankruptcy Discussion

Detroit Bankrupcy

Available on Monday, November 9, 2020 12:04 PM CST until Sunday, November 15, 2020 11:59 PM CST

Must post first.

Find at least two articles about the city of Detroit and its bankruptcy situation. You can choose them from no later than about one year ago. In other words, don’t choose them from earlier than November, 2019. Alternatively, you could find any other articles about other cities that are presently facing bankruptcy, since there are a few cities that have indeed gone bankrupt. Upload your articles for the class — and provide the link for them — and summarize them for your colleagues in a summary paragraph. Then answer these questions:

1. Do you think the city’s bankruptcy has changed the way other cities in America are keeping track of their financial situation, and if so, how? If not, why not? Support your opinion with evidence from your article(s) or your textbook.

2. In your posting, make comments or connections to at least two of the influences of Financial Condition Assessment listed in your textbook on p. 11- 24 through 27 of your textbook , except for unemployment – we’ll address that in question #4. Comment about how Detroit (or the other city you’ve chosen) is now doing on those factors, and support your comment with evidence from your article(s) or textbook.

3. Is your own local city (or county) at the risk of bankruptcy? Why or why not? Providing evidence for your opinion strengthens your post. You can share a link to your own cities’ budget or financial reports, if they have such a link, or explain and support your opinion with facts or figures that you find. Just saying “I think that the city is in good shape because we are diverse and I just love the way the downtown looks” is your opinion, but then support that opinion of diversity with information available for review by your colleagues.

4. In thinking about Employment totals and the unemployment rate, how do these items impact the overall financial condition of your city that you have chosen to highlight? Describe the national employment totals and rates first, (including the recent changes in unemployment) and then compare or discuss their impact on your city. You can go ahead and show what you know about unemployment. Sadly, some of you have been recently unemployed and have personal experience in this regard. Again, if you are giving your opinion, back it up with research or evidence, including article links.

Instead of being in groups, this discussion is open to the entire class, and you can read whichever articles you think might be interesting to you that your colleagues post – no need to read them all! But you must enter the discussion in a meaningful way to get more than 89% this time. And you can not get more than that if you post on the last day, because you have not given your colleagues time for review, and you can’t possibly get your posting and replies finished on two different days – the requirement for 90% work. See the discussion rubric if you have questions about that. One thing you do not need to follow is the word requirement for ‘short paragraphs.’ You can be more wordy here, if it is necessary.

This one is worth 30 points, so post early enough to learn from others as you go through their work, and then make that learning known! Don’t be shy!

In your reply to your colleagues, you can let them know if you agree or disagree with the author of their article, or comment on what you liked or disliked about the article, or if you agree on their comments. We are practicing opening our minds to others, even in this emotionally-charged time. Be sure to keep your comments focused on policy, not politics. This is an essential skill for wading through to facts.

Please answer the following questions using the arguments provided in chapter 11 from Ha-Joon Chang’s book.

1. What is the contractarian philosophy argument?
2. Provide a possible critique of the contractarian philosophy.
3. Why is the depoliticization of the economy (the so-called “market economy”) not a good idea?