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Obama may be doing many good things with the GM and Chrysler bailout deals, but one thing he isn't doing is "reinventing capitalism for the 21st century"--which is Marc "Spin Me" Ambinder's characterization of what Obama thinks he's doing. .... Indeed, here is the guts of the rationalization offered by Ambinder, presumably after consulting with administration sources:
The administration believes that its intervention will buy Chrysler a few more years. If it fails in a few years, that's bad -- but not destructive.
"Buying a few more years" isn't "reinventing capitalism for the 21st century"--at least I hope not. Seems more like gradually disposing of the carcasses of the Wagner Act industrialism left over from the 20th. ... Nor is it "creative destruction." It's the opposite--temporary preservation, not destruction. ... And we'll see if Chrysler (which now has 300,000 unsold cars!) even survives "a few years," though I guess if the federal government keeps subsidizing them they will. ... Maybe Obama, as Steven Pearlstein suggests, is saving us from the "mortal blow to national pride"** that these iconic firms' "sudden demise"--as opposed to drawn-out, flailing, tortuous demise--would deliver. Again, not crazy, but also not very 21st century, especially when you consider the flourishing of Tesla- and Magna- like firms, many building electric cars, that would occur if the Detroit dinosaurs were no longer staggering around the landscape squashing newcomers. ...
P.S.: Robert Farago runs through GM's recent sales stats. Gruesome! (How many Buick Lacrosses and Lucernes sold in April, combined? 1,481. I think that might be a typo.) ...[via Insta]
**--When you see a Chrysler Sebring do you swell with national pride? I just get depressed. ... 5:26 P.M.
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