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August 15, 2005
Praying for the auto industry - and innovation
Seems that a least one person in Michigan thinks the auto industry needs help in the innovation area -
"In a State Devoted to Autos, a Prayer to Take a New Road - New York Times":
Lanny L. Johnson recently came up with a prescription for Michigan and its auto industry. Prayer. On billboards.
Mr. Johnson, a 71-year-old retired orthopedic surgeon, bought two months of advertising space on four billboards in the state and put up this message: "Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, Forgive us our sin of being dependent upon the Automobile Industry and not on You. Please restore invention, productivity and prosperity. In Jesus Name, A Michigan Citizen."
As I've said in a couple of recent postings (Detroit discovers flexible manufacturing and Detroit's true innovation), I think the answer to the automakers prayers is to build desirable products.
Now, having said that, we need to also recognize the so-called "legacy" cost that bedevils the auto industry. Chief among these is health care, something that plagues most of manufacturing and even other industries. A decade ago, there was a moment in time when major health care reform was possible -- in part because American companies were getting eaten alive by health care costs. That moment passed because of miscues by the new Clinton Administration and raw political posturing by the Republicans (who were looking for a way to break -- successfully as it turned out -- the new Democratic lock on Washington).
The issue then disappeared from the policy debate. The GOP Contract with American even dismisses it:
We don't need a government-run health care system with costly new entitlement programs. Instead, we need to facilitate efforts to keep families intact.
Unfortunately, the problem did not disappear. It was simply masked over during the 1990's boom.
Now, with slower growth, rising health care costs are once again coming back to haunt us. Maybe the moment to confront the problem will arise again. But likely not soon enough to save the US auto industry.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at August 15, 2005 9:14 AM
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