| The issue with an article like this is that you can't really buy a city. The article talks about how Detroit has $20B in debts and Google could afford to spend $20B. But that wouldn't be the cost of Detroit which would also include all of the assets that the city owns. Even then, what have they bought? Things like the roads and sewer system? But they wouldn't really control those things since the residents of Detroit would elect their government. But let's say that Google could own a city and rule it as a dictatorship within America. "Google could convince the existing car manufacturers to start producing Google Cars and a premium rate. [sic]" Self-driving cars are still a while away. Ignoring that for a moment (and ignoring the fact that Ford and Chrysler moved out of Detroit), I understand the thought: "how great would it be for the Detroit automakers to have a higher-margin draw to their products?" That would be great in a certain sense, but wouldn't really work. If it were easy and cheap to do, others could easily follow. If it's hard and expensive, Google isn't going to just donate those profits to the GM/Ford/Chrysler shareholders and workers - they're going to want those profits for Google shareholders and Google workers. However, the whole thing ignores the fact that Google owning Detroit and such a partnership have nothing to do with each other. "What would be appealing to Google would be the ability to produce city wide legislature. . . [sic]" Again, this goes back to the issue that Detroit would still be democratically governed. Sure, Google could use power and influence to shape legislation, but isn't that what, say, Comcast tries to do? The idea that Google wouldn't have to comply with laws and regulations is laughable (and would be terrifying if it weren't so ridiculous). It's always interesting to think, "how would someone/some organization I respect run a government." However, there just isn't logic in this article. Democratic governance negates most of it, equal protection guarantees mean that Google couldn't be placed above the law, and any partnerships with other companies could be made regardless of "owning" Detroit. |