MB Civic

Paul Harris in The Guardian

Officially, America is on the up. The economy grew by 3.5% in the past quarter. On Wall Street, stocks are rising again… But for tens of millions of Americans .. lay-offs are continuing.. Unemployment in America stands at 9.8%. But that headline figure, massaged by bureaucrats, does not include many categories of the jobless. Another, broader official measure.. stands at 17%… [Detroit’s] once proud suburbs now contain row after row of burnt-out houses.. Now almost a third of Detroit – covering a swath of land the size of San Francisco – has been abandoned. Tall grasses, shrubs and urban farms have sprung up in what were once stalwart working-class suburbs. Even downtown, one ruined skyscraper sprouts a pair of trees growing from the rubble.

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