Could Japan's misfortune be Detroit's gain?

[English]

The entire premise of the thread is "Could Japan's misfortune be Detroit's gain?"
That is what I disagree with.

I disagree with it as well. Sure, there are many times when the misfortune of others benefits one directly or indirectly, but decent people didn't used to say so in polite company. I don't remember people in, say, Las Vegas or Florida saying after Katrina, "Oh great, we'll get more tourism," or those in Maine or California saying after the BP oil spill, "Wonderful, we're going to get huge increases in our seafood orders."

If the American auto business gets a break because of this, then fine, well, and good. American industries also benefited the last time their major industrial competitors were reduced to rubble. But the schadenfreude is a little macabre.