Some People Don’t Get It
Over at the Agonist there’s a piece called More Car Thoughts about how the US auto industry can be saved by acting like Steve Jobs.
One of the key points is that the Big Three should shut down all of their assembly plants and just put the actual production out to bid.
Of course, this might help stockholders and the executives, but it obviously screws the workers. No concern is given to the minor point – who will buy all of these wonderful, up-to-date cars that are being built wherever. The workers in the companies that would probably get the bids don’t make enough to buy a cup of coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts, much less an expresso in the areas where there are Apple stores, so they aren’t going to be buying them. This will outsource even more jobs, and create an even deeper recession.
Any solution that doesn’t provide jobs isn’t a solution. People need jobs to buy anything. The US economy is dependent on people buying things. If no one can afford what you are selling, it is irrelevant how good it is. To survive, the US economy needs a middle class.
There are already companies that use the “Jobs-Apple” model for cars. The cars are in a very small niche in the overall market and, despite 6 and 7 figure price tags, the company will never break into the Fortune 1000. One of the reasons the cars are so expensive is all of the hand finishing that is required to get the parts from a large variety of suppliers to fit together.
