Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Stuck in reverse, Detroit?

Last month I watched with delight as General Motors launched their Corvette Stingray, the C7. I find the design really really eye catching and the interior was posh. Ford launched their Atlas concept for their F50 pick up truck to remind America who is the King of Pick-up. It is Ford, GM and Chrysler who gave Detroit their identity as the Motor City.

But the city is slowly dying.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/1/29/business/20130129090149&sec=business#1359500745865331&if_height=493

Detroit's population is shrinking, their tax revenue is shrinking due to business dying. Nothing seems to be going right for them and they are contemplating a bankruptcy case. A city; going bankrupt. Can you imagine that?! Now when i read that there are streets without lamps, I am saddened to think that this city is part of America. Reading the news would help my mind to link these images to a place in Uganda, not America!

Now Mr. Rick Snyder, if you are reading this, let me help you out a bit.

Did you know Michigan is the 14th state in the USA to lead in clean energy? Did you know that the future of cars are in clean tech; be it hydrogen fuels and battery? Did you know that Detroit is Motor City? Can you not link those three questions together?

Can you not have the people of Detroit to install solar panels on their homes to provide free energy to their homes? Any extra electricity generated can be sold to the city to power the street lights!

Ok, you might argue, the people of Detroit may not have the money to buy and install solar panels, so this is not going to work. Mr. Snyder, provide a loan for the people to buy up the solar panels. This way you earn via interest charged on them as well.

You cannot jack up the interest rate, this would exaberate the flee out of the city.
You should selectively reduce them for clean energy technology companies. that would theoratically improve the business for Detroit, which will lead to higher tax revenue.

If you really must, in the short term, you can go for a bankruptcy war to make yourself leaner. But without a proper strategic planning, 10 years down the road you would face the same problem. Why not bear the pain of bankruptcy, make youself leaner, and then set a proper path to improve business conditions there?

Start churning out clean tech engineers so that we can have a talent pool to support green energy in Detroit.
Start laying the groundwork for car manufacturers to flourish with clean tech.
Start ensuring that clean tech companies can set up shop there and support the industry.


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