About this episode

Rodney Lockwood discusses Detroit's economic decline and his plan for revitalization.

Detroit has become the poster child of American decline and for good reason: No city in what is now known as the Rust Belt experienced such soaring highs and such abysmal lows. In the 1950s, Detroit was the wealthiest city in America. By 2014, just one year after the city declared bankruptcy, Detroit was considered the poorest city in America. Detroit is starting to show signs of comeback by courting large investments from some of the companies who brought Detroit to its zenith, such as the Ford Motor Company, and balancing the city’s checkbook. But plenty of problems persist, and the whiplash has left policymakers and every day Americans asking what happened, and what is the way back for cities like Detroit. Rodney Lockwood is a member of the Board of Directors of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy with a business background in real estate. Lockwood joins “The Signal Sitdown” this week to help unpack Detroit’s collapse, the beginnings of its recovery, and share his bold plan to revitalize a forgotten part of the city. “I think Detroit is probably the most prime example,” of the Rust Belt’s collapse, Lockwood told The Daily Signal, “because other cities have not suffered as…

People in this episode

Host: The Daily Signal

Guest: Rodney Lockwood

Topics covered

• Detroit
• Rust Belt
• economic recovery
• urban decline
• public policy

Keywords

• Detroit
• Rust Belt
• economic recovery
• Rodney Lockwood
• Mackinac Center

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Ford Motor Company

Places: Detroit, America, Rust Belt

More episodes of The Signal Sitdown

• How a Democrat Allegedly Used DEI and Bureaucracy to Commit Fraud and Attain Power | Greg Steube · April 23, 2026 · 36 min
• What Democrats Will Do if the SAVE Act Fails | Brandon Gill · March 26, 2026 · 33 min
• Why Are Our Young Women Unhappy and on Drugs? | Emma Waters · March 19, 2026 · 1h 12m
• The Critical Role JD Vance Plays on the American Right | Frank DeVito · February 27, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Jeremy Carl Joins ‘The Signal Sitdown’ Following Tense Senate Hearing · February 19, 2026 · 1h 35m
• What Comes Next for Venezuela? State Department Official Explains | Tommy Pigott · February 12, 2026 · 43 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Signal Sitdown podcast page.