Detroit's Problems Require a Paradigm Shift

Washington DC November 10, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that enlisting the voices of prominent Michiganians, Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes asks his state to face the reality and come to terms with the fact that the world is becoming more globalized and business in his state will have to learn to compete.

According to Howes, "Michiganians would be deluding themselves to think the Revenge of the Democrats [in Tuesday's elections] will ease the global economic pressures bearing down on the state and its core industries."

Rather, and taking from the words of former Gov. Jim Blanchard: "All I know is we're not going to be able to build a wall around the country or Michigan. We're going to have to deal with global competition." Howes warns readers to beware of the expectations being raised with the "re-ascendancy of Michigan Democrats on Capitol Hill" – such as, Rep. John Dingell to the chairmanship of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee and Rep. Sander Levin, next in line to chair the Ways and Means trade subcommittee.

"This in a state whose major players, their unions and the culture they bred were not built to play in an environment that prizes flexibility, speed, innovation and constant change over predictability and fulfilled expectation.

This in a state where too many folks would rather stop change than manage it," says Howes. "...The reality is that Michigan's economy – built on expectations of high pay for low-skill work and long-term stable employment – is likely to get much worse before it gets better."

What's more, quips Howes, "a crude Midwest xenophobia of foreign investment could impact future investment decisions by foreigners with scores of choices."

Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc., an Ann Arbor think tank, adds: "The flat world is real and efforts to resist it aren't going to work... What's driving the economy are knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship." Michigan's unemployment rate is the highest in the nation outside of the Gulf Coast.