I’m a businessman, and all this talk about bailouts is finally reached the tipping point with me. Just as I don’t like being held hostage by employees, I don’t like being held hostage by the auto industry. The Big Three have come to Congress (all in private planes) pleading for a bailout. The problem is, nobody wants to give them one.
Many lawmakers in both parties are now openly discussing whether bankruptcy might be a better option for auto firms they regard as lumbering industrial dinosaurs that have done too little to adjust their products and work forces for the 21st century.
I have to agree with the article here. Our revenues are down, we are making cuts and adjusting strategies and investments into emerging technologies. No one is talking about how to help our company and save the jobs that may be lost.
The argument here is that millions will lose their jobs. I hate that, but in a global economy with the changes we face, we can’t simply prop up antiquated industries so people can have jobs. Otherwise we’d still be subsidizing wagon wheel factories.
I take Sony as an example of innovation. They saw the demise of the Walkman and have since rebounded with a diverse product offering. Companies that respond to changing conditions survive, those that don’t will die off. Just as evolution takes some beautiful animals, it takes some beloved American companies.
I grew up on a dirt road in Alabama and even I’m smart enough to know I don’t fly in a private jet to go beg congress for money. I am also smart enough that after about three quarters of declining revenue I’d be switching game plans. The automakers haven’t seen this happen overnight…it’s been years in the making. Maybe it’s time to put down the fiddle and try to put out the fire.
Well said. Unfortunately I believe the new administration is set on bailing out whoever comes calling if they pass some mysterious threshold of being “too big” to fail.