tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post6892008721733519358..comments2024-03-28T08:37:58.136+01:00Comments on Limited, Inc.: on not needing a weatherman...Roger Gathmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-82160278845748183642008-11-13T03:46:00.000+01:002008-11-13T03:46:00.000+01:00Well, I hate to sound all capitalist roader like, ...Well, I hate to sound all capitalist roader like, but... this is an opportunity. The whole transportation system, all those huge cars, they are going to have to go and sooner than later. And I'm supposed to think that the only thing we should bail out is the banks? And tough love General Motors? That's typical American ideological thinking, in which we have to be punished after dessert. <BR/><BR/>I gotta say, that seems upside down to me, to put it mildly.Roger Gathmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-51173261520215386432008-11-13T02:13:00.000+01:002008-11-13T02:13:00.000+01:00Maybe the problem is not the companies, but a cert...Maybe the problem is not the companies, but a certain segment of the population that demands Excursions. I' thinking of the George Carlin misanthropic rant "Maybe it's not the politicans. maybe its the public" <BR/><BR/> Of course, I am not one to talk, as I have a car that gets terrible gas mileageAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-66592095031308839532008-11-13T00:07:00.000+01:002008-11-13T00:07:00.000+01:00Brian, but you know, this isn't true overseas. For...Brian, but you know, this isn't true overseas. Ford, apparently, makes nice 60 mph cars for the European market, makes a nice profit in Brazil, etc. <BR/><BR/>I'd say the bankruptcy of the faux truck undercarriage model plus the state begging people to buy SUVs by using tax breaks - my God, the things that have happened in the last eight years - is now evident. <BR/><BR/>But crisis points don't necessarily mean the end of a corporation. IBM climbed out of the hole in 1990. A GM Chrysler merger, and conditions on the kind of cars being manufactured in return for a bailout, seems to me like a very winning idea. <BR/><BR/>Of course, Ford just successfully begged money and is now revamping its supertruck, with about 14 mpg on the highway. I'm not saying this will be easy.Roger Gathmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-86253505805960902392008-11-12T22:33:00.000+01:002008-11-12T22:33:00.000+01:00Two million jobs. That's the number impacted by a...Two million jobs. That's the number impacted by a GM bankruptcy. Still...is there a single American nameplate car that you would ever consider buying (absent your chosen carlessness) In California, that answer is pretty clear (no)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-85585056021491327112008-11-11T18:34:00.000+01:002008-11-11T18:34:00.000+01:00You'll notice that AIG and USA have the same numbe...You'll notice that AIG and USA have the same number of letters. Surely we aren't that attached to USA? Come, let us reason together - doesn't AIG just have that, that sound of financial prowess? What I'm saying here is, why not simply let AIG take over, a sort of leveraged buyout thing, that whole silly treasury department? Besides the very important expenditure to the Pentagon - which I'm all for raising 50 percent to meet the truly unprecedented terrorist threat - I'm thinking that nothing really is as important as making sure counterparties in the derivatives market can sleep soundly under their duvets. Can't we agree on this simple proposition?Roger Gathmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-22475727607863280232008-11-11T18:27:00.000+01:002008-11-11T18:27:00.000+01:00Any bets on how many more returns to the trough it...Any bets on how many more returns to the trough it will take before AIG finally gets told to get stuck? I'm going to go with 4, because I like arbitrary declarations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com