One of these things is just like the other

Here's Mark Steyn with "The Downfall of Detroit"

“Structurally unsound and in danger of collapse”: Hold that thought. Like Detroit, America has unfunded liabilities, to the tune of $220 trillion, according to the economist Laurence Kotlikoff. Like Detroit, it’s cosseting the government class and expanding the dependency class, to the point where its bipartisan “immigration reform” actively recruits 50–60 million low-skilled chain migrants. Like Detroit, America’s governing institutions are increasingly the corrupt enforcers of a one-party state — the IRS and Eric Holder’s amusingly misnamed Department of Justice being only the most obvious examples. Like Detroit, America is bifurcating into the class of “community organizers” and the unfortunate denizens of the communities so organized.

As Steyn notes, the key to saving Detroit is making it a place where people want to set up a business and work.  Who in their right mind would say "let's set up shop in Detroit?"  Now America has the highest effective corporate tax rate in the world, small businesses are cutting back to part-time work and 49 employees to avoid Obamacare, full-time jobs are in short supply, and government dependency is at an all time high.

But, unlike Detroit, the federal government can print its own money.  So we got that goin' for us.