Detroit's Fall Wallops Canada

Layoffs, property price plunge leaves middle-aged workers in limbo

(NEWSER) - Tens of thousands of middle-aged white-collar workers have been left jobless and stranded in Michigan by the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto industry veterans laid off by the Big Three are finding themselves competing against against younger people for a smattering of job openings. With property prices down 45% from their 2006 peak, people are unable or unwilling to sell their homes and seek work elsewhere. More»

(NEWSER) - Chrysler and GM could end up needing a “considerably higher” amount than the $21.6 billion so far requested, Bloomberg reports. Steven Rattner, who heads President Obama’s auto task force, said it's possible the request could go as high as $40 billion. He also said that Chrysler’s mention of a merger with Fiat is a “worthy idea” because the company is “just kind of barely making it” alone. More»

Feds, Ontario grant emergency loans for its subsidiaries

(NEWSER) - A day after President Bush offered a bailout to American automakers, Canada announced plans to follow suit. The federal and Ontario governments will grant GM and Chrysler’s Canadian subsidiaries $3.3 billion ($4 billion in Canadian dollars), the Globe and Mail reports. “We cannot afford either in the US or Canada a catastrophic short-term collapse,” said PM Stephen Harper, who cautioned, though, that the loans are not “a blank check.” More»

Some don't feel sorry for 'high-on-the-hog' Detroit giants

(NEWSER) - The auto industry has driven Michigan’s economy since Henry Ford set up shop, but not all residents are sympathetic to Detroit’s plight, the New York Times reports. Unemployment runs high, and some wonder where the rescue was when their livelihoods were on the line. “The car companies saw the banks getting a bailout and said, ‘Oh, let’s go!’” one resident grumbles. More»

'Windsor-hum' causing cross-border ruckus

(NEWSER) - Something strange and noisy is happening on Michigan's Zug Island, complain Canadians in Windsor, on the other side of the Detroit River. The "Windsor hum"—described as a low-pitched rumble—has been annoying residents of the border city for two years. Canadian scientists say they have pinpointed the noise as emanating from the heavily industrialized island at the southern edge of Detroit. Canadian diplomats have repeatedly raised the issue with their US counterparts without success, the Wall Street Journal finds. More»