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- Aug 25, 2005
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This week the big 3 car makers are presenting their survival plans. Yesterday Ford was down 31%. Toyota down 34%. Clearly a large part of the problem is the economy stupid!
Why do the blue collars have to front survival plans yet the white collar, AIG, do not have to do such a thing? The blues get looked down upon for spending $10K for a plane trip. The whites waste $500,000 at a spa and receive more money.
We see cries of AIG is too big to be allowed to failed. Yet the politicans don't realize that is exactly what our founders meant to avoid in the economy. The reason AIG is too big to fail is that it controls markets and is therefore outside the free market. The answer to AIG would be to take it out, slice and dice, and create diversity within the free market system. Anti-Trust laws need to be applied to AIG.
Too bad nothing changes with the Dems. They appear to be taking the same attitude as the Republicans and holding blue collar companies to a standard they refuse to hold white collar companies to.
I follow Ford and they were the first ones to present their plan. IMO there really isn't anything different here. CEO paid $1 and possibly sell Volvo are a couple things. (Not that anyone would want to buy Volvo in a market where people aren't buying cars.) The rest of fuel efficent engines, already on the way, and battery powered cars, just an acceleration of existing plans. Ford's claim is interesting even without the money they likely will be fine and profitable in 3-5 years. The question is how deep and long is the recession. If it's longer than the predictions then yes Ford clearly needs the money. IMO this is a good bet and we'll see a return as tax payers.
One thing I was sad to see was the lack of big 3 in talking about healthcare. GM experiences $1,600+ per vehicle for healthcare. Honda, who builds quite a bit of cars in the USA btw, is around $200 per vehicle. If the government would take on healthcare and create an environment similar to the other industrialized nations in the world, not only would the big 2.5 car makers be more competitive so would our other businesses. This would be one thing to help fix some of the underlying problems. Instead the government makes bets that the downturn will be short lived and doesn't address the true problems within the system.
Why do the blue collars have to front survival plans yet the white collar, AIG, do not have to do such a thing? The blues get looked down upon for spending $10K for a plane trip. The whites waste $500,000 at a spa and receive more money.
We see cries of AIG is too big to be allowed to failed. Yet the politicans don't realize that is exactly what our founders meant to avoid in the economy. The reason AIG is too big to fail is that it controls markets and is therefore outside the free market. The answer to AIG would be to take it out, slice and dice, and create diversity within the free market system. Anti-Trust laws need to be applied to AIG.
Too bad nothing changes with the Dems. They appear to be taking the same attitude as the Republicans and holding blue collar companies to a standard they refuse to hold white collar companies to.
I follow Ford and they were the first ones to present their plan. IMO there really isn't anything different here. CEO paid $1 and possibly sell Volvo are a couple things. (Not that anyone would want to buy Volvo in a market where people aren't buying cars.) The rest of fuel efficent engines, already on the way, and battery powered cars, just an acceleration of existing plans. Ford's claim is interesting even without the money they likely will be fine and profitable in 3-5 years. The question is how deep and long is the recession. If it's longer than the predictions then yes Ford clearly needs the money. IMO this is a good bet and we'll see a return as tax payers.
One thing I was sad to see was the lack of big 3 in talking about healthcare. GM experiences $1,600+ per vehicle for healthcare. Honda, who builds quite a bit of cars in the USA btw, is around $200 per vehicle. If the government would take on healthcare and create an environment similar to the other industrialized nations in the world, not only would the big 2.5 car makers be more competitive so would our other businesses. This would be one thing to help fix some of the underlying problems. Instead the government makes bets that the downturn will be short lived and doesn't address the true problems within the system.
