Economic development Heart bypass?

Is Detroit still the heart of the automotive industry? Will the massive incentive packages being offered to manufacturers by the southeastern states ultimately shift the balance of power from the Midwest to the Southeast? For our first issue of the new century, AEI editors put these and other questions to industry and economic development experts. Their answers may surprise you.

Since the early 1970s, when Big Steel first began its meltdown, Detroit has been a city in crisis. Despite withstanding numerous hammer blows from Japanese and German contenders for the hearts and minds of the American car-buying public, the Motor City still must work overtime to retain its reputation as the hub of the automobile industry.

But there's reason to believe that Motown is succeeding.