Government Motors For Evah?
Let’s think about the comparative strength of the UAW, General Motors, and the Japanese car companies as depicted in the mainstream media.
Back when G. Gordon Libby thought America was a free country it was:
1. GM-Large and in charge
2. UAW-Large
3. Japanese car companies-Weak
For most of my life it closer to this:
1. Japanese- Large, but not quite in charge
2. GM- Large
3. UAW- Super weak
These day it’s clearly:
1. Japanese car companies-Large and charge
2. UAW- Weak, but much, much better off then GM
3. GM- Non-entity
The executives, stock holders, bold holders, and overall political clique that once was GM isd a shell of itself. GM as a company will probably survive, but the project that was GM has proven to be an absolute failure. The UAW will survive, which is more then many unions in the world can say. Japanese car companies are set to dominate the global market for decades.
GM, or as it is derisively called Government Motors, as it exists today is a wholly different project with wholly different stake holders, top leadership, and even goals. Government motors isn’t ever going to reach the pinnacles of industry that the old GM, but I think it’s clearly done better then the GM was doing. They’ve succeeded at negotiating lower labor costs and debt, and they’ve made long delayed cost backs to dealerships and the like that GM had been avoiding.
I’d much prefer to see America pursue a larger and wholly private car company model to a smaller and quasi nationalized car company model. But that what we needed was a larger, wholly private, and forward thinking car company, what we got with GM was a politically pernicious, very short sighted car company that spent decades mocking every decision Honda and Toyota made, and spent more time convincing conservative columnists that everything was the UAW’s fault then actually doing anything to effectively lower labor costs.
So the choice is between a smaller, partially nationalized car company and massive lay offs that will devastate an entire region. It’s not perfect, but Obama’s making the right decision.
Filed under: Politics | 3 Comments
Tags: Car Companies, GM, Honda, Toyota, UAW, Unions
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I wonder if it even makes sense producing cars anymore with GM’s industrial capacity. As it happens, there remains even now a nontrivial surplus of car production in the world, and something’s gotta give, somewhere. Is building cars with a slightly better business model the best way to revitalize the Rust Belt?
We’ve got a tremendous opportunity to rethink our industrial and manufacturing paradigm and focus on building the lifeblood products of the 21st century economy: windmills, solar panels, bullet trains, and whatever the hell else Steven Chu is thinking up. Let’s become the best at making renewable energy and sustainable transportation products of all sorts. In fact, I was talking about this with someone last night and became convinced it’s probably the only way we can maintain our status as an economic superpower for the next couple of generations.
I think supporting GM is the only way to keep Michigan from becoming a little East Germany dragging everything around it down.
The surplus will it sort it self out if they focus making a smaller number of cars that are better then the competition. They have viable models, a couple forward thinking future projects, and brand loyalty. People want them to make a come back.
Fine. GM shouldn’t completely fold, I’ll grant you that. There’s certainly a place for them in the global auto market if they make good cars.
But under the model being talked about, a slimmed down sleeker GM, there will still be a bunch of extra unused production capacity now essentially in government hands. Something needs to be done with all those shuttered auto factories. What better than to direct that capacity into the hands of cutting-edge alternative energy and transportation companies. They’re out there, they just need a hand up to get started.
The Obama Administration can follow through on its desire to become the global leader in producing the backbone products of a clean energy economy by acting as an angel investor to innovative, small-to-medium size companies. Since even Democrats today are mortified of anything remotely resembling a planned economy (except when protecting entrenched interests), this idea doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. But it’ll be a tremendous opportunity wasted.