Detroit's Ailing Auto Industry: Is it Time to Push Buy Michigan?

We’ve been through this before with Detroit’s auto industry. In fact, the federal government bailed out Chrysler in 1979 to prevent the company's bankruptcy. Of course, the bail out wasn’t the only approach utilized by the big-three car companies to weather the crisis. The patriotic slogan Buy American cropped up in the 80s as a way to help the domestic car companies compete against their quality-obsessed Japanese counterparts.

While the Buy American notion no longer engenders the antipathy against a Nissan owner it once did, the notion is by no means completely dead. In fact, according to an USA Today article, 50% of Americans still consider whether a product is made in the USA before buying it.

Of course, globalization has helped to blur the line between what is considered “foreign” and “domestic.” The fact that Chevrolet uses parts from China, the Honda Accord is made in Ohio, and the Ford Fusion is made in Mexico, means that the only real distinction we can use when attempting to Buy American is the car brand's country of origin. German-owned Chrysler, however, still presents a conundrum.

Despite the practical challenges involved, the mayor of Warren urged city workers in September of 2008 to once again Buy American when choosing their cars. And you know what? As we in Michigan await a possible $25 billion, federal bail out for our big-three car companies, maybe all we can really do is rally around a slogan. Instead of Buy American, though, I would take it one step further and make it Buy Michigan. Undoubtedly, a debate will rage about whether patriotism should trump product quality, but the truth is that a Buy-Michigan stance is less about patriotism than about our state’s economic survival.

What do you think?

Pro-Michigan Programs:

• Buy Michigan First, a State-of-Michigan program designed to increase the participation of Michigan businesses in the state bidding process.
• Buy Michigan Now (or Think Michigan First), a grass-roots organization aimed at encouraging consumers to buy their products and services from Michigan where and when possible.

More To Think About:

• Is It Unpatriotic to Not Buy American Cars? By Roger Simmermaker / HowToBuyAmerican.com (2/11/06)
• Editorial: In Defense of: Bailing Out Detroit by Phil Ressler / TheTruthAboutCars.com (10/30/08)
• Morning Bell: A Better Way to Help Detroit, a post on Entrepreneurship on 9/18/08
• Detroit Group Launches 'Buy American' Campaign / GlobalInsight.com (2007)