Monday, November 23, 2009
Business / Economy / Politics / Autos
Daniel Howes is business columnist and associate business editor of The Detroit News. His column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. From 1999 to January 2003, he was based in Germany as The News' European correspondent and automotive columnist, reporting from more than 20 countries on three continents. Before heading to Europe, Howes was senior automotive writer and an investigative and projects reporter on the business desk. He came to Detroit in 1993 from The Roanoke Times in Virginia, where he covered business, politics and higher education. He can be reached at dchowes@detnews.com or through his blog.
More on Daniel Howes
- On media: He is a regular contributor to the Paul W. Smith Show on NewsTalk 760-WJR in Detroit. He appears often on radio and television locally, in the United States and overseas.
- On education: He holds a bachelor's degree in history from the College of Wooster in Ohio, and a master's in international affairs from Columbia University.
- On awards: Winner of multiple International Wheel Awards for column writing; a four-time winner of Northwestern University's Medill award for general markets coverage; and a three-time finalist for the prestigious Gerald Loeb Awards, including an honorable mention for commentary in 2007.
Podcasts
- On the UAW-GM tentative deal
- Why the Chrysler sale means merger was a failure
- Commentary on the return of Ford's Taurus
- On whether Chrysler is a better or worse company than it was nine years ago
- On The President's meeting with CEOs from the U.S. automakers
Resources
- Detroit Renaissance: Structural Reform Agenda (PDF)
- Road to Renaissance Report (PDF)
- University of Michigan Economic Outlook (PDF)
- Michigan Future Inc.: New Agenda for a New Michigan (PDF)
- U-M's Millenium Project: Roadmap to Michigan's Future
- Brookings Institution study: The Vital Center (PDF)
- Michigan Emergency Fiscal Memo
Blog: Business / The Economy / Politics
Big Mitten's 'lost decade' punctuated by big unraveling in autos
The drip, drip, drip of job losses in Michigan isn't close to coming to an end. By 2011, according to a University of Michigan survey released today, Michigan will have … Continued
- Peters does good, calls McCain's bluff on viability of Chrysler
- GM throws Opel sale into reverse, raising transatlantic questions
- Detroit chamber offers boost to would-be casinos -- in Ohio
- Testy Ford-UAW contract vote spawns bad info, lame arguments
- Calling Ferdinand Pecora ... a smart reading of '30s history
- Pile another embarrassment on heap: DTW pols pay for support
- More in Daniel Howes' Blog
- Join the discussion in Daniel Howes' Forum
The Howes Blog Roll
More in The Detroit News blogs
Washington Bureau Blog
Deb Price: Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, will announce today the creation of a bi-partisan "Jobs Now!" congressional caucus. Miller will be one of its three … Continued
Autos: Scott Burgess' Blog
Scott Burgess: Check out this video from the Toyko Motor Show: The LFA has arrived.
… Continued
Nolan Finley's Blog
Nolan Finley: Even in Michigan's miserable economy, $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome and its surrounding 127 acres seems like too much of a bargain. But that's the deal Pontiac … Continued
State tax credit to labor union is baffling
Nestled between this week's state tax credits for auto suppliers, a furniture maker and a few high-tech companies is this gem: A $2 million credit to a for-profit affiliate of the Service Employees International Union to build a "Member Action Center." - 11/20/2009
Chrysler's last chance to get it right
Lots of people have challenging jobs at Chrysler Group LLC, but few are tougher than the one occupied by Doug Betts. - 11/19/2009
Disagreement is a good sign at new GM
General Motors Co. is poised to begin returning $6.7 billion in loans from the U.S. Treasury for the simplest of reasons: In the battle for perception, it's good business -- and even smarter politics. - 11/17/2009
Learn jobs lessons in Mich., Mr. President
President Obama said Thursday he will hold a "jobs summit" next month. - 11/13/2009
State is in denial of the 'new normal'
Granholm's goal is to spark a backlash, such as this week's march on the state Capitol by parents, students and teachers, that would pressure recalcitrant Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to relent and agree to raise more revenue. - 11/12/2009
Switch on Opel shows GM can change
Don't pay much heed to the wailing from Germany about General Motors Co.'s decision, after all, to keep its Adam Opel GmbH unit. - 11/10/2009
Chrysler is in a race that already started
Time is not on Chrysler's side because the clock clearly favors crosstown rivals Ford and, yes, General Motors -- both of which have killer products in showrooms, right now. - 11/06/2009
Michigan should go for nuclear jobs
Michigan needs to get on the nuclear power train because it's getting ready to leave the station -- and take the jobs with it. - 11/05/2009
Ford's $1 billion profit signals turnaround
In Ford's surprisingly strong third-quarter numbers, there are all sorts of people who could claim vindication. It starts at the top. The simple fact is that Ford wouldn't be poised for a break-out had Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and the board of directors failed to recruit CEO Alan Mulally three years ago. - 11/03/2009
Arrogant ex-mayor betrays supporters again
Four of Metro Detroit's most powerful business leaders pony up $240,000 to speed Kwame Kilpatrick's exit from the mayor's office. And what do they get in return? - 10/30/2009
United Way needs help of all
Mike Brennan doesn't say it in the direct, we-need-your-help United Way ads running these days on local radio stations. - 10/29/2009
UAW workers may derail Ford's success
Here, in the week before Ford Motor Co. hopes to maybe, sorta' report encouraging third-quarter earnings, a faction of its United Auto Workers membership is on course to torpedo a revised labor agreement. - 10/27/2009
Feds' war on bankers is folly
A government that spends more time lobbing rhetorical grenades at Wall Street and automakers, bankers and insurance execs, media outlets and other critics, is one that isn't laying the ground work for economic stability. - 10/23/2009
Ex-car czar's unsaid views most telling
President Obama's former car czar may be among the more unpopular guys in Detroit, but he shouldn't be -- because Steven Rattner's right. - 10/22/2009
Europe's politics hold up GM's Opel sale
The Germans aren't the only ones hoping to hurdle European Union objections to General Motors Co.'s plans to sell a majority stake in its Adam Opel GmbH unit. - 10/20/2009
State budget faceoff is absurd
The game of political chicken being played in Lansing between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, is less about juicing the dismal economy than it is political positioning and crafting legacies. - 10/16/2009
GM out to shock American consumer
After years spent back on their figurative heels -- and the past 12 months on their knees -- GM's message-makers are leaning forward again, theoretically together. - 10/15/2009
Ohio gaming tests Detroit boosters
Dan Gilbert, the self-proclaimed Detroiter working big plans for his diverse business empire, remains bullish on his hometown. - 10/13/2009
Detroit supplies ammo for its bad image
Next time someone laments the tiresome fact that Detroit is getting whacked again in public, remember this: We give them so much material. - 10/09/2009
Bing battles a culture of entitlement
No one who draws a paycheck from the city of Detroit -- or wishes they could -- likely will embrace the plan from Mayor Dave Bing's crisis turnaround team, unveiled Wednesday. - 10/08/2009
So far, Fiat leaders fail to impress at Chrysler
Chrysler has been a cash incinerator for the past decade, helped by successive owners whose chief goal ended up being to milk the pentastar for all they could get. Fiat stands to be the third such controlling force until it displays, by its positive actions, that it isn't. - 10/06/2009
What's it gonna take for Michigan to change?
What's it gonna take for Michigan's political class, in both parties, to acknowledge that they repeatedly have failed the people who sent them to Lansing with some expectation that they would do something to earn the salaries we're paying them? - 10/02/2009
Time for GM to overhaul its culture
Starting today, General Motors Co. officially begins the big push to change its slow, risk-averse, bureaucratic culture. - 10/01/2009
MSU sets example in how to lead
The opening of MSU's Detroit Center is a bricks-and-mortar symbol of a deepening commitment to Detroit despite difficult times for both. - 09/29/2009
GM puts focus back on cars
For the first time in a very long time, GM can focus on what they actually build and market instead of health care, labor costs, debt-laden balance sheets, the politics of the recession and myriad other issues that pushed them into bankruptcy. - 09/25/2009






















