Michigan Governor Wants 'Open Source' Economic Model

An anonymous reader writes "Incoming Michigan governor Rick Synder spoke in Kalamazoo, MI today and says he wants to use an 'open-source economic development model' to help repair the battered down state. Perhaps during his time as president of Gateway he saw a benefit to the open source model, but can it really be successfully applied as an economic model?"

Comments

What he means

[Sonny Yatsen]

Maybe what he means by "open source" economic model is that he wants state workers to work for free.

Re:What he means

[dch24]

From the article:

Snyder mentioned a concept called "open-source economic development." He said the state is going to look at every region and see which area is the best at a certain practice and ask if the community is willing to share it with the rest of the state.

Applying best practices around the state is not about getting credit but rather uplifting the state for all, Snyder said.

Define "Open Source"

[timeOday]

Here's the pertinent part of the article:

He said the state is going to look at every region and see which area is the best at a certain practice and ask if the community is willing to share it with the rest of the state... He said he's going to give Michiganders a sense of how the state's doing on myriad metrics annually. He also said wants to give residents a road map of where the state is going, by planning a two-year budget and creating an online "dashboard" that tracks the government's progress on different issues.

Now, we can have a lot of pointless dickering about whether the term "Open Source" is being abused. But more importantly, those ideas in themselves sound fine to me. I doubt they'll be enough to solve Michigan's huge problems, but that's another matter.

Re:The Real Title: Kalamazoo

[spun]

They plan to look at the way each region of the state does things, and implement the best plans. Kalamazoo happens to be one place that the governor feels is doing things right, and should serve as a template for other areas. But you are correct in that this is not really about "open source" government at all, which would allow anyone to contribute. This is about taking the best policies and procedures already out there, and using them in places that are not yet doing so.

Here's my model

[camperdave]

Here's my model:

1. Spend less than you take in.
2. When cutting spending, try cutting big ticket items first.
3. Pay down more than the minimum payment on debts.
4. Round expenses up and round revenue down.

Re:Here's my model

[drsquare]

But what if borrowing leads to more growth that pays off the debt? What if cutting spending in a depression lowers economic activity and therefore tax revenues? What if interest rates are low enough to make it non-sensical to pay more than the bare minimum?

Your model may work for a household, but not a government.

RMS Is in Control Now

[eldavojohn]

The venerable Richard Stallman was given complete control of the Kalamazoo government today at which point he announced that -- in order to battle pollution -- the oak leaf will replace the dollar bill inside city limits and the city council's podium will now have timeslices of 15 ms handed out to members (or 'threads' as the new law worded it) that will be violently and forcefully switched out by very strong bailiffs (or 'schedulers'). All city buildings are to be rebuilt in glass to improve the ability to see what goes on inside and very expensive, cancer causing X-ray devices will be issued to citizens so that at any point in time they can check any government official to verify first hand that the official in question is not a member of the lizard people elite that rule the United Kingdom.

After cracking a very strange grin, RMS promised the people they would experience open source in new and profound ways starting today.

Re:Already has 300+ years of development

[drsquare]

I think they did, and the market sent all their jobs to the third world.

Re:Already has 300+ years of development

[Microlith]

I know, like labor and environmental protections. The problem isn't that Michigan priced themselves out of business, it's that places like China treat people like shit and crack down on people who oppose such abuses. Logically, the only way to compete with China would be to reduce costs down to being just under China costs + shipping.

Of course, I doubt many people in the US would be willing to accept such a drop in quality of life, or accept such corporate abuse.