Detroit [[metro) has the 9th most millionaires of any city in the US

[rb336]

What kills me about those "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" is how seemingly random they are. Joliet and Naperville are further from Chicago than Ann Arbor is from Detroit, yet they include them in Chicago's MSA, but AA isn't in Detroit's.

[casscorridor]

To me, this makes sense. Due to stratification of wealth. You might think it is ironic that the once crowning achievement of [industrial] capitalism, Detroit, is one of the most impoverished cities. But I don't at all. It makes perfect sense. Capitalism leads to stratification of wealth, so that is why we have one of the top metros for millionaires and also one of the last when it comes to equality.

It is also interesting to compare and contrast Detroit with New York City. Detroit is the industrial center [[hollowed out), and New York is the financial center [[booming). You can really look at these two cities alone and understand the United States. Our industrial sector is crippled while the financial sector is reaping profits. But without Detroit [[and other industrial centers), would New York City [[and other financial centers) be what it is today? Or in other words, without the working class, could the capitalist class be as powerful and as wealthy as it is today? New York and Detroit are like ying and yang.

[JBMcB]

To me, this makes sense.

Except it's probably not true. It's a poorly done study with arbitrarily chosen criteria.

You might think it is ironic that the once crowning achievement of [industrial] capitalism, Detroit, is one of the most impoverished cities.

Capitalism doesn't build eternal monuments. The crowning achievement of capitalism is that the largest health problem among the poor in the US is obesity.

Capitalism leads to stratification of wealth,

Only when there are barriers erected against moving that wealth around. People with money don't hoard it.

so that is why we have one of the top metros for millionaires and also one of the last when it comes to equality.

Both dubious statistics.

Our industrial sector is crippled while the financial sector is reaping profits.

It's not industrial vs. financial, it's industrial vs. services. NYC provides services - investing, marketing, design, etc... They are still doing well because these are highly skilled areas - you can't outsource these jobs and probably won't be able to for another few decades.

But without Detroit [[and other industrial centers), would New York City [[and other financial centers) be what it is today?

Put it this way - without the financial institutions of NYC, Detroit would still be, primarily, a fur trading town and lake port.