Will 6/7/09

The Auto Industry's Government Takeover

My take on George Will's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: The auto industry takeover is a government takeover despite the denials of President Obama.

Quote:

"What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing -- is running GM," says the president who, when not firing GM's CEO, purging its board of directors and picking new members, is designing new products (imposing fuel economy requirements that will control size, weight, passenger capacity and safety).

My Views: Most of this column compares government's actions in managing General Moters versus the denials of doing so. The most telling point comes at the end. Why take over GM at all? It's Market Valuation was the size of Pizza Kitchen and 1/11 that of Harley Davidson. The GM brand is part of the popular culture, but less historic companies are bigger.

Where is the cut-off point for this too big to fail policy?

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George Will almost didn't make it as a syndicated columnist. His style was considered too erudite for a general audience.

Whatever one thinks of his views, read his work for use of language and for how he marshals facts and uses logic.

Here's his Wiki bio.

His latest book is at the right.