I guess I was busy this morning lamenting the America we see today, and sad at the thought that I don’t think our parents and grandparents would be proud of us. Those that lived through the depression and fought in WWII gave their lives so that we could enjoy the life that we have today, but somehow, somewhere along the way much of it was squandered. GM, for all intents and purposes, no longer exists as an American company. Chrysler is in the process of being sold to Fiat, and who knows how long Ford will hold on. These were powerhouses of American industry, and now what? Hummers made in China, Chryslers made by a company that hasn’t been able to sell a car in the U.S. for more than twenty years and is not considered to be top notch. What is next?

If we want to ask ourselves why we have to do a combination of things. Yes, we need to look in the mirror, but it is far more than just a turn away from “buying American.” It has been a long time since these companies have given us something worthy of buying. While foreign car companies were being innovative American car makers were giving us more of the same and losing focus on the customer. They were late to the game of hybrids, still producing oversized monsters designed to make soccer moms and underachievers feel powerful, and providing such low quality in order to get the customer buying more frequently. This was not and is not the American way, and yet somehow it became the American business model in a relatively short time for Detroit and others.

Two years ago I finally shook the invisible cultural shackles I had been raised with and purchased my first foreign vehicle, and I have never been happier. The first thing I noticed is that I am treated like a valuable customer; something that had been lost along the way in my years of dealing with GM and Chrysler. Simply said, they stand by their product. The last American car I had happened to be a convertible and when the rag top blew off after only a year and a half they told me it was my problem because it was “not a covered item.” In my foreign car I have been to the dealer twice in two years. Both times were for a “yearly” oil change. That’s right; YEARLY.

My father is still alive at the ripe old age of 78 and will probably live to well over a hundred at the rate he is going. He spent many years in the auto industry and helped to frame my “All American” girl persona. Is he proud of what has happened? No, and the sad part….he also drives a foreign car.

People are often confused by me; just when you think you know me, I can surprise you. The fact that I am a liberal while being more fiscally conservative may surprise many. I also like to see things from both sides of the equation, which is handy considering I teach global economics. So, let me start by telling you that I no longer watch the news on television. I do, however, read newspapers from all over the world every day, and there is a very good reason – television is for drama.

Television news is overly dramatic for a reason. Now, I am not saying there is no economic difficulty before us, but I am saying that broadcast news has a singular responsibility to get ratings and not to inform you. That, my friends, is lesson number one.
Lesson number two? Be wary of what those around you say. Remember the old adage about screaming fire in a theater? There is a good reason it is illegal to do so, and it should similarly be illegal for network news to overly dramatize the world economic situation. Again, I am not saying we don’t have a situation, because we do, but I remind everyone that this is a cycle. It is only a little scarier because we are being told to be scared.

Economics, as a whole, is a confidence game. If Warren Buffet told us things would be all better in six months, everyone would start down that road the minute he stopped talking. When the pundits, news stations and even friends cry disaster, guess what – disaster looms.

Yes, Mervyn’s (is going) went out of business. They couldn’t compete anymore. Yes, Circuit City (is going) went under. Best Buy out-advertised, out-marketed and just simply outdid them. Yes, GM, Ford and Chrysler are headed down the drain (update – Chrysler just claimed bankruptcy), but perhaps they shouldn’t have been making Hummers when Toyota was selling the Prius like hotcakes. Not that I am a fan of the Prius as I think it is more hype than reality. It truly does not give us anything better for the environment than a BMW. And, yes, many banks have gone under. We all know the golden rule of not buying what you can’t afford and, similarly, not loaning what you are pretty sure will never be paid back.

There are many businesses starting up now than there have been in many years. People are no longer complacent with bad business. They are starting to think for themselves, which is one of the principles this country was founded upon.

So, I conclude with a few important questions. When do bad management and bad business decisions become the responsibility of a nation of taxpayers? When does it become crucial to put common sense first in lieu of high television ratings? And, perhaps more importantly, when do we stop blaming the other guy for our failures, suck it up and start over, just like our forefathers?

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine