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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:41 am Post subject: America Inc needs to get smart |
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The uber pretentious Tyler Brule, editor of Monocle and contributor to the FT offers some suggestions:
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I�ve been meaning to write this particular column for a while now but I was going to hold off until just before the inauguration to jot down a To Do list for Barack Obama�s inbound administration.
However, the news that America�s big three carmakers are looking for a bailout to the tune of $25bn (�17bn), and that its airlines will no doubt follow suit, impelled me to file this story on Wednesday from New York. I was feeling particularly strongly about the subject because I�d just been shuttling around the San Francisco area for two days in a big, bloated American car and was fresh (hardly) off the United Airlines overnight service from SFO to JFK.
Let�s deal with the four-wheeled transport first. Why should the US taxpayer bail out a motor industry that has done little in the way of innovation and possibly less to produce vehicles that people feel good about driving? In some corners of the world, my head turns when I pass an attractive car. In the US, my head turns in horror as one monstrosity after another blocks out the daylight in the rear-view mirror.
The US is suffering from a disease of scale and proportion that not only affects the waistlines of its citizens but also the size of vehicles and houses. In terms of family cars and runabouts, it�s hard to feel sympathy for Detroit when the automotive chiefs clearly haven�t been listening to Americans who define themselves as Acura, Toyota, BMW and Honda drivers. What do these consumers see in these brands beyond the obvious lures of reliability and price? Answer: they find sound design packaged in attractive, human-scale cars.
The big three carmakers have also managed to mess up some of their international acquisitions. Saab is a perfect example of a niche, much-loved brand that General Motors could have used to launch a series of clever-looking and performing vehicles. Instead, they�ve left that territory wide open for Subaru to exploit. And don�t get me started on the opportunities lost by Ford with Land Rover and Jaguar.
It is for these reasons and others that Detroit should be left to wither. Yes, there�ll be job losses and the state of Michigan will need to rethink what it wants to be (a province of Canada perhaps?) but Americans aren�t going to fall out of love with their cars, so there�ll be plenty of CEOs from Nagoya, Munich and Seoul flying into Detroit to kick a few tyres.
In America�s less-than-friendly skies it�s the entire aviation system that needs a kicking:� the airlines, airport operators, the federal security body, air traffic control and passengers.
Put simply, nobody seems to care. Passengers treat airports as if they were their living rooms and aircraft as if they were their bedrooms. Public space is treated as private space (shoes off and stinky bare feet draped over armrests), iPods are cranked up without consideration for others and noxious takeaways are unpackaged to drip and waft through whole cabins.
Flight attendants hate passengers because they behave like beasts, and the beasts hate the crew because they�ve become wardens rather than waiters. What�s more, the rudest and dumbest are in charge of keeping the skies secure � I dread to think what�s going on in some control towers.
Your average US citizen is quick to defend many things about his or her country, but the state of air travel isn�t one of them � which brings me to that To Do list. In the upcoming issue of Monocle, I suggest that one of the new president�s main focuses should be on infrastructure. Here�s a few more things he might want to shift to the top of the agenda:
1) Let the Big Three rust. If there�s anything worth salvaging in the US automotive sector, then suitors will swoop in and ensure there are enough vehicles to move the nation around.
2) Allow full foreign ownership of airlines. Let foreign carriers come in and buy up failing airlines and pave the way for a liberal aviation sector.
3) Privatise all airports. The New York travel experience might be superior if the Singaporeans were running and overhauling Newark.
4) Create a new national uniform. Obama�s trim suits on a trim frame might prompt American men to get out of comfy (read: �I�ve given up on myself�) mode and start updating their wardrobes. With men�s fashion titles only interested in showing unwearable garments on American Idol drop-outs, it�s hard to blame the US male for being a bit misguided.
5) Shake up Chicago. The Windy City might be a good place to road-test a few ideas: �overhaul public transport, champion new housing initiatives and spark an urban revolution. We�ve already witnessed an enthusiastic and willing audience for change.
6) Media. All US news outlets should devote 30 per cent of their pages or airtime to overseas news and views.
7) Scale it down. Small should be positioned as truly beautiful:� the new administration should champion small businesses, smaller-scale living and smaller calorie intake.
8 Craft a culture of pride. If part of the Obama mantra has been �made in America by Americans�, he might want to inject the words �pride� and �craft� into the mission statement. America Inc needs to relearn a culture of craft and bring back some lost arts from Asia and Latin America. |
His annoyance with American middle class behaviors aside, I think most of his 10 suggestions are solid. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:25 am Post subject: Re: America Inc needs to get smart |
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| 2) Allow full foreign ownership of airlines. Let foreign carriers come in and buy up failing airlines and pave the way for a liberal aviation sector. |
Not sure how "liberal" it would be, but might this result in fewer old swamp donkeys and swishy gay men on the cabin crews?
| mises wrote: |
| I think most of his 10 suggestions are solid. |
What happened to 9 & 10?? |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:36 am Post subject: |
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My mistake, 8.
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| Not sure how "liberal" it would be, but might this result in fewer old swamp donkeys and swishy gay men on the cabin crews? |
Not liberal, but valid. The service staff on Asian carriers are more pleasant to be around and this extends vastly beyond their appearance.
I've never had the horror experience flying around America that seems to be common. BA sends my bags on a world tour each and every time I fly with them and London's airports are a disgrace. The major American ports are less polished than Inchon, Hong Kong and Changi, and I don't know why NYC, Miami or LAX can't get it together and build proper rail links that efficiently get passengers to the down town. etc. |
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:04 am Post subject: |
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Like what the Roman empire became--bloated, inefficient, complacent, and increasingly blind to where it was headed.
With so many resources to waste maybe it's just human nature. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:08 am Post subject: |
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| Or not. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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Goddammit, mises.
You're raising my blood pressure. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| ? ? You find the article to be offensive? |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| ? ? You find the article to be offensive? |
Not offensive, and not this article in particular. I'm worried.
I'm coming out of the Obama honeymoon way too fast and you're not helping! |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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| There is little reason to be off the Obama team just yet. He hasn't done anything, less pick really competent individuals for important positions. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| There is little reason to be off the Obama team just yet. He hasn't done anything, less pick really competent individuals for important positions. |
SecTreas Geithner
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| While the deliberations among Geithner, Paulson, and Bernanke remain opaque, there is a growing consensus on Wall Street and in Washington that Geithner would have been more reluctant to let Lehman go if left to his own devices. Perhaps more importantly from the perspective of Geithner's career, this is the view that holds sway in Obamaland. "I don't know anyone who doesn't think the Lehman decision was a terrible error," says one Obama confidant. "But there is some sense ... that Geithner would have handled it differently. ... That, in terms of understanding and pushing on the severity of the problem relatively early, Geithner was strong that way." This person relates a recent conversation between an associate and a Fed official, in which the latter complained, "Christ, Geithner wants to save everybody." |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I'm aware of some of the problems, not only with him but mainly with Summers. But these individuals, while not perfect, are a great improvement. And that's about all that can reasonably be asked at this point. There are many degrees of bad.
I was quite disappointed that Volker and Buffett were passed over for a more institutionally appropriate individual but such is life. Better than Goldman's raiding the Treasury. |
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Beej
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Location: Eungam Loop
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Talking about the economic future of the big three auto makers and the poor state of mens fashion in the same piece is just bizarre. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
Yeah, I'm aware of some of the problems, not only with him but mainly with Summers. But these individuals, while not perfect, are a great improvement. And that's about all that can reasonably be asked at this point. There are many degrees of bad.
I was quite disappointed that Volker and Buffett were passed over for a more institutionally appropriate individual but such is life. Better than Goldman's raiding the Treasury. |
It seems Obama wants to bailout the Big 3, but just needs a better justification.
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Obama called the auto industry the "backbone of America's manufacturing base" and said it cannot be allowed "simply to vanish." While he wants to help the automakers, he said, U.S. taxpayers cannot be expected to "just write a blank check to the auto industry."
He said he was "surprised that they [the auto executives] did not have a better-thought-out proposal when they arrived in Congress" last week to testify before Senate and House committees. Congress "did the right thing" by telling them to come up with a plan for long-term viability before they can receive a federal bailout, Obama said. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Beej wrote: |
| Talking about the economic future of the big three auto makers and the poor state of mens fashion in the same piece is just bizarre. |
That is Tyler Brule's thing. He writes in the FT's Weekend section every week. It is the first column I read...if only for a good laugh.
http://www.ft.com/arts/columnists/tylerbrule
Check out some of his stuff. Really pretentious but equally readable.
| Kuros wrote: |
| mises wrote: |
Yeah, I'm aware of some of the problems, not only with him but mainly with Summers. But these individuals, while not perfect, are a great improvement. And that's about all that can reasonably be asked at this point. There are many degrees of bad.
I was quite disappointed that Volker and Buffett were passed over for a more institutionally appropriate individual but such is life. Better than Goldman's raiding the Treasury. |
It seems Obama wants to bailout the Big 3, but just needs a better justification.
| Quote: |
Obama called the auto industry the "backbone of America's manufacturing base" and said it cannot be allowed "simply to vanish." While he wants to help the automakers, he said, U.S. taxpayers cannot be expected to "just write a blank check to the auto industry."
He said he was "surprised that they [the auto executives] did not have a better-thought-out proposal when they arrived in Congress" last week to testify before Senate and House committees. Congress "did the right thing" by telling them to come up with a plan for long-term viability before they can receive a federal bailout, Obama said. |
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They are going to get bailed out. Sad, but true. I don't think it would be politically possible not to. I think Mitt Romney made a great argument in the NYT that bankruptcy is the best option but things are what they are. The terms of the bailout are the only "change" we can hope for. |
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kotakji
Joined: 23 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Doesn't it seem he kinda mixes front page stories with page 10 lifestyle editorials? Seems more like a crotchety old dude rant that starts with something valid and moves into his personal pet peeves. While most people would say the US airline industry has some major problems, I doubt its suffering because people are taking their shoes off in the terminal. As for the point about dress, I accept that in the current business world its necessary to fit into the business culture and acceptable dress is a part of that. Yet, I don't buy it that a suit and tie must forever be the only acceptable business wear. Besides, noting again the crotchety old dude syndrome, I believe that pop-culture has been showing off outlandish dress since the dawn of time. |
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