What a shame. What a lost opportunity. In the immortal words of Dr. (Garett) Jones: "Creative Destruction, it was fun while it lasted." If you can't count on a lame duck president to do the right thing, what's left?
The bailout has some severe strings attached to it, its defenders will say. But it is not bankruptcy, so the depth of restructuring will pale next to what is needed to revitalize the American auto industry. That means the answer is, no, I'm not buying it.
UPDATE: This also seems to be a blatant violation of the TARP, which weeks ago the administration was saying would not (and I thought legally could not) be used for industrial policy. So is it Constitutional? It was once fashionable to re-interpret the intent of laws written decades or centuries ago. Now it seems the time horizon for creative interpretation of the law has converged to months.
Markets are going through major shifts related to advances in digital solutions and global access to low-cost resources. Those companies that will thrive are those that will create new solutions which adjust to these shifted markets. Just because a company survived last year and has a few bucks does not mean it will succeed in 2009 and onward. It requires innovation to deal with these major changes, and only those companies that innovate will create returns allowing them to emerge as strong, viable competitors. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com
Posted by: adam hartung | December 29, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Oh, there's no rules for anything any more!
Rules simply lead to order and stability. And both are the enemy of looters.
Posted by: Al Brown | January 05, 2009 at 01:14 AM
Unfortunately, mathematical laws make extended growth impossible, regardless of the 'greenness' of the growth.
Posted by: replica watches | July 15, 2010 at 05:48 PM