Michigan's Sacred Cow

The automobile industry has been Michigan's
sacred cow for a long time now. The "Big 3"
market share has been shrinking for a long
time, and it is past time that Michigan
recognize that we cannot afford to skate along
as a one major industry state any longer.

I find that David Littman's analysis of Michigan's
automobile economy is on target while the one from
The Center for Automotive Research has once again
taken a head in the sand political approach to
looking at economic problems.

Michigan had better get used to the idea that
either all large scale manufacturing will
eventually leave this state or right to work
will have to be implemented here. Political
imposition of will over investment capital
only works in the short term. Eventually
capital must flee when faced with such
restrictions as we see in Michigan today.

For those of us old enough to remember
John L. Lewis and the coal miners' union,
we're facing very similar problems here in
Michigan today. The mining industry wanted
some of the corporate profits to be spent on
research and development for new products
from coal to replace the heating demand that
was falling off because it was being replaced
by cleaner oil and natural gas. Lewis and the
union insisted that the workers get every
cent that was available, and that led to the
eventual demise of an entire industry.

Yes, the public always has to support, in
one way or another, the next generation of
industry.

Another alternative might be the unbridled
growth of industrial robots. As time has gone
on, such robots perform increasing percentage
of production jobs. It could come that an
entire automobile assembly plant might employ
a few dozen workers, with all the real work
of assembling cars done by robots.

Yes, taxation of such facilities would be
favorable for the state and local governments,
with lots of income and very few people
demanding services in exchange. But then
where would such equipment be built? China
perhaps?

Do we end up with legislated limits on
reproduction such as China has, and has
had for some time now?

We need people work. And to get that we need
rational growth of both industry and population.
Government bailouts, and subsidies, don't get
us there.

Please read the web page I refer to below. And
as you do, remember the TV commercials that had
Lee Iacocca standing in the foreground while
they imploded an obsolete manufacturing facility
in the background? The thinking in among our
government officials looks only so far as the
next election cycle. We need thinking for this
lifetime, and the next.

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/14046

Bill Vajk

P.S. Taking a page out of Iacocca's book, Iron
River's Middle School should probably be
demolished. Are the local governments going to
keep coming back, hopeful of wearing down the
voters who have now spoken on the issue, and
harass us till we comply with their visions to
support a decrepit building (needs a new roof!)
that was built during the Great Depression some
80 years ago?

What of the vision that the voters have expressed?

It isn't as though there aren't enough vacant
buildings in Iron County to house such business
as are presently inhabiting the Middle School.