Competitive Advantage

TheFundamentals previous essay (June 24, 2009) prescribed a cure for the state of Michigan. It was designed to turn around the third world country economic climate MI has created for itself. MI just can't compete. Not for jobs, not for business, not for economic growth, not for home valuations, not for personal income, not for nothing. They are quite successful at unemployment, deteriorating neighborhoods, poor graduation rates, falling economic output and income and unmotivated populations. Predatory unions dominate commerce and business. Minorities clamor for more handouts and the party in power plays fiddle to the tune dictated by the minorities and the unions. We liken this situation to the overused metaphor of the perfect storm of three converging forces occupying the same longitude and latitude for a period of time. The three forces being minorities whose educational, societal and cultural behavior standards are substantially below those of the overall community; protected labor unions that pursue intimidation and the exercise of undisciplined power and the delusional and destructive actions of the political party in power.

The prescription written for the state of Michigan is not nearly as radical as it will appear to the above groups. In many other states the components of the prescription are in place and working well. And that brings us to the point of today's followup comments. There is such a thing as competitive advantage. Anyone who has ever competed in the business world (yes, that does exclude the entire Obama administration and most, if not all, of the senior officials of the party in power) knows that to be successful it is necessary that the products and services offered must have features that set them apart from the competitor's products and services. These set-them-apart features are "competitive advantages."

Some of our fifty states are doing quite well. TheFundamentals does not wish to pick on the states of IL, NY, MI, CA and others but these states just don't seem to care about attracting and keeping business, controlling taxes and spending and reducing legal hurdles and regulations and unnecessary rules and bureaucratic interference in the free enterprise, competitive marketplace. If you are not promoting the free enterprise, competitive marketplace you are not promoting wealth creation. Wealth creation is the source of jobs. The government does not create jobs. The prescription for MI is just a simple attempt to bring a state with loads of unemployed citizens back in the competitive game. What do you have to lose when your unemployment is skyrocketing and your economic output is plummeting? Does TheFundamentals really think that the destructive forces in MI will do some self examination and start to implement the prescribed changes? Well, who knows? Stranger things have happened. One thing we do know at TheFundamentals is that the states which have adopted a program of competitive advantage will continue to attract business and jobs and economic growth. That is change you can predict, change you can support and change you can measure. This is not Obama's immeasurable nonsense about creating and saving jobs, green energy and more health care for less. This is real. Watch the states with competitive advantage grow. States are sovereign entities. They can and should compete with each other. Is your state competing? Is your state growing? Is your state attractive to business growth, real job growth and wealth creation?

Competitive advantage. It's a good thing. It is one of TheFundamentals.