Economist: Flint better able to weather GM downsizing

FLINT (WJRT) -- (12/12/08)--A University of Michigan-Flint economist is predicting that Flint is in a better position than the rest of the country to weather a future with a downsized General Motors Corp.

Hundreds came together for an economic forum put together by U of M-Flint to try and answer general questions about the current economic crisis.

But with a Senate rejection of the automakers' bailout loan and worries about the future of GM, some of the discussion was directed to those concerns as well.

"A lot of people are wondering what happens to life after General Motors, life after the manufacturing sector," said said Prof. Mark Perry.

Perry, a nationally renowned economist, sought to reassure the audience that Flint was actually in a better position than the rest of the country to weather such a manufacturing storm.

Armed with data from Flint's job numbers, Perry pointed out that that economic realities show Flint has moved from a manufacturing-based economy to a primarily service-based economy because of the manufacturing realities over the past 18 years.

"One out of every three jobs were manufacturing. One out of every six jobs," he said.

Perry claims because the Flint economy has already weathered a long and gradual downturn in manufacturing jobs, it could survive life without GM better than the rest of the country.

As for the economy as a whole, Perry predicted a rough time for the global economy through 2009, but that global growth would continue through 2010.

And he used his data to put to rest any fear that we are on the verge of returning to the days of the Great Depression, comparing 10,000 failed banks in the 1930s, 3,000 during the Savings and Loan crisis of the '80s, but just 23 failed banks in the recession of 2008.

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local, cathy shafran

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