PLATFORM : How Detroit Thinks

American auto makers want to tell the Japanese what to buy, regardless of quality. They also want to put a sign on America’s front door saying, “Foreign investment not welcome”--an odd message from the world’s largest overseas investor, and badly timed when you consider that foreign investment is necessary to stimulate our lagging economy and create American jobs.

American auto makers also want to establish the dangerous precedent of making trade deficits an automatic trigger for retaliation. The United States has a $20-billion surplus with Europe. Should Europe retaliate against us?

And ultimately, they want to tell Americans what they can buy and drive.

Short-term thinking is by no means entirely the province of American business leaders, especially in an election year. Business is undercut at every step by zig-zagging national policies that hurt American economic performance and competitiveness.