Okay while I occasionally try to pretend otherwise I am not an economics expert all the same one of the reoccurring themes in my brain droppings is that the petty poaching and conversly the complaining about petty poaching in the Metro-Detroit business scene does nobody good.
The reason why it's happening is because up until recently the pool of large companies in the area up for grabs was limited and I'm not going to lie and say that's no longer the case but but focusing on how to steal companies for each downtown is treating the symptom not the disease.
Instead effort could better be expended on trying eliminate the barriers to economic activity. Revising zoning and usage laws, training the existing workforce and recruiting outside the state to reverse the brain drain, pumping money into research so that the next great breakthroughs occur here instead of the coasts or even overseas, investing in infrastructure to better allow trade, and creating safe spaces that can provide access to tools and technology for innovation.
Instead of all that stuff I hear my political leaders discussing more and more how we can play pass the potato with the few businesses that are here and I feel that attitude is contributing to an overall stagnation.
Worse I feel and have always felt that that sort of anti-regionalism is why the state is so slow to deal with problems like transportation and education as municipalities who share common interests are more inclined to protect their little bit of turf rather than work together and actually get something done.
I don't know what to do about it but it's what I think.
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