While Detroit Slept

Photo by: Rolf F.

Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist and author of the book “Hot, Flat and Crowded“, has been on a media blitz promoting his fantastic book and offering his opinion on what should be done with America’s troubled automotive industry. Friedman’s argument has been that if Detroit is looking for help from the American taxpayers then Detroit should be forced to innovate. However, he feels this innovation should be driven by someone with a proven record of change and foresight, like Steve Jobs of Apple. In addition the entire industry should be revamped. The bailout should not just address the next line of automotives to be released.

In his most recent op-ed, Friedman writes that while the current bailout will merely provide temporary Band Aids for a broken Detroit, another company called Better Place is sowing the seeds to become the next major automotive juggernaut. Today, Better Place is signing contracts around the world to set up national automotive infrastructures based entirely on electricity.

From Friedman’s article, “While Detroit Slept“:

“Our bailout of Detroit will be remembered as the equivalent of pouring billions of dollars of taxpayer money into the mail-order-catalogue business on the eve of the birth of eBay. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into the CD music business on the eve of the birth of the iPod and iTunes….. If we miss the chance to win the race for Car 2.0 because we keep mindlessly bailing out Car 1.0, there will be no one to blame more than Detroit’s new shareholders: we the taxpayers.”