In an editorial in the February 12 issue of the German printing magazine Deutscher Drucker, editor Bernhard Niemela proposed a great tongue-in-cheek concept for fixing the economic woes of the printing industry.
Niemela figures the government won’t come through with bailout money for printers (he’s talking about the German government, but it applies just as well in the US). But how about having the government set up a “bad printshop” (like the “bad bank” proposals that are currently in the news)?
The plan is really simple: the government sets up a printshop that will accept all jobs that printers want to give it. Printers can pick out all the jobs that they made a low-ball bid on and now find they can’t cover their costs. These are the ones they turn over to the government. Presto: the printers are all profitable!
Hey, if it works for the banks, why not for our industry?
Niemela figures the government won’t come through with bailout money for printers (he’s talking about the German government, but it applies just as well in the US). But how about having the government set up a “bad printshop” (like the “bad bank” proposals that are currently in the news)?
The plan is really simple: the government sets up a printshop that will accept all jobs that printers want to give it. Printers can pick out all the jobs that they made a low-ball bid on and now find they can’t cover their costs. These are the ones they turn over to the government. Presto: the printers are all profitable!
Hey, if it works for the banks, why not for our industry?
