Detroit fears the worst as GM merger talks roll on

Reuters

Detroit's economy has been beaten down for years by wave after wave of job losses in the U.S. auto industry, but locals fear the worst may be yet to come if General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC merge.

"It's already been ripped apart," Tim Jones, 55, said when asked about the economy of the Detroit area.

"People are losing jobs. If you walk down any main street in this area, you see half of the businesses are closed," said Jones, who left the construction industry two years ago to start an online business selling cell-phone batteries.

"A combination of GM and Chrysler will only make things worse