Let 'Em Fail
Putting aside for now any discussion of how government intervention into the marketplace may have created big behemoths like GM and Ford in the first place, bailouts by the government should be an absolute No-No. One of the essential elements of a market economy is allowing the weakest companies to fail, so any attempts by government to "save jobs" or "avoid a recession" by bailing out our bigger corporations are counterproductive.
[Thanks to sooreams.com for the drawing.]
But it's the old story of public choice again. Politicians, in their eternal search to placate public opinion by saving the mammoths, will always weaken and put OUR money where THEIR mouth is, if they think it will keep them in office.
Auto workers are no more stupid than the rest of the population, they can learn new tricks and find alternative professions. There's even been a PBS special on the subject -- surely a sign that the evidence must be overwhelming indeed. One of the fellows, who you'd have sworn would rather commit suicide than stop wielding a sledgehammer, became a male nurse and now loves it.
Therefore, it's up to us folks to tell our politicians that it is not our vote that they should strive to obtain (because we may not have much choice), but rather our respect; and if they want to gain our respect, they would do better to pass a law outlawing bailouts.
[Thanks to sooreams.com for the drawing.]
But it's the old story of public choice again. Politicians, in their eternal search to placate public opinion by saving the mammoths, will always weaken and put OUR money where THEIR mouth is, if they think it will keep them in office.
Auto workers are no more stupid than the rest of the population, they can learn new tricks and find alternative professions. There's even been a PBS special on the subject -- surely a sign that the evidence must be overwhelming indeed. One of the fellows, who you'd have sworn would rather commit suicide than stop wielding a sledgehammer, became a male nurse and now loves it.
Therefore, it's up to us folks to tell our politicians that it is not our vote that they should strive to obtain (because we may not have much choice), but rather our respect; and if they want to gain our respect, they would do better to pass a law outlawing bailouts.
posted by Katy Delay at 1:57 PM
1 Comments:
I work in the auto industry. The behemoths must die to clear out the accumulated inefficiencies in the UAW and senior management. Nothing else will change these groups except total failure.
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