A Car in Every Driveway
One of my favorite episodes of “The Simpsons” dates back to the early years. Lisa has taken on the responsibility for anchoring the school’s newscast, only to have her brother Bart, join in. Bart is doing a story about aging veterans and at the end of his piece, he mentions that veterans should have a day to be honored. Lisa, through gritted teeth, replies that there are already two days set aside annually to honor veterans. Without blinking, Bart answers, “Well, they should have three.”
It is in that vein that I make the comment that I don’t think the federal government is doing enough to help the economy, and I have an idea that dovetails very well with the auto finance industry. Ideally, the plan would be for the federal government to offer free auto loans to any small business that needs a vehicle to survive. The approval process could be folded into the Small Business Administration to make it slightly more practical.
A small business could take funds it receives from the SBA and purchase a car, if it’s needed, but a free car loan would be one less step that the companies would have to go through. And it would be a specific program that the government — and the auto finance industry — could hang their hats on to show they are doing what they can to try and boost the economy.
The government could partner with one or more lenders, and make payments on behalf of the small businesses.
If that idea is too pie-in-the-sky, then the program could be amended so that the small businesses would receive car loans with below-market interest rates, and the government would make up the difference between the interest rate offered to the business and whatever the lender’s cost of funds or profit margins are.
In this economy, it’s incumbent upon everyone — the government, industry, individuals — to leave no stone unturned in trying to improve their business and improve the economy. No idea should be too silly to be discussed. It’s never usually the initial ideas that end up being home runs. Flickr, for example, started out as a gaming website.
There are many roadblocks that keep individuals from starting or growing a business. Small businesses could be what pulls the economy out of recession. Why not give them a hand?
