MaggieMae
Reality bits
- Apr 3, 2009
- 24,043
- 1,635
- 48
Lifted as quoted in THE WEEK, 02.18.11 issue:
GOVERNMENT IS NOT ALWAYS THE PROBLEM
Quoting Dick Polman at The Philadelphia Inquirer
When the Obama administration bailed out the auto industry two years ago, said Dick Polman, outraged conservatives predicted disaster. U.S. Rep. John Boehner said he rescue effort "guarantees failure at taxpayer expense," and Sen. Jon McCain scoffed that if there were people who believed that "Chrysler is going to survive, I'd like to meet them." Newt Gingrich went so far as to predict that "Chrysler taxes" would cause the population to rise up in revolt.
Guess what? The free market purists were dead wrong. GM hs emerged from bankruptcy stronger than Ford, with billions in profits, and acclaim for vastly improved quality and reliability. Chrysler has increased its sales every month for the past nine months, and will soon roll out 16 new models. The federal government's bailout dollars are well on the way to being repaid; hundreds of thousands of jobs that would have been permanently lost have been saved. Indeed, the U.S. auto industry has added 53,000 workers since 2009.
The lesson: Sometimes, "government needs to step in to save capitalism from its worst Darwinian excesses."
And from Harold Myerson at The American Prospect
As coroporate profits skyrocket, even as the economy remains stalled in a deep recession, Americans confront a grim new reality: Our corporations don't need us anymore.
Half their revenue comes from abroad. Their products, increasingly, come from abroad as well. With each passing year, America's leading corporations grow more and more decoupled from the American economy. Their interests grow increasingly detached from those of our workers, our consumers--and our economic future.
That's why the current downturn is different from its predecessors: Unlike any recession in American history-including the Great Depression--this one has come at a time when America's leading employers can return to profitability without rehiring large numbers of American workers.
Growing America's economy will only happen with a solid partnership between the public and private sectors.
GOVERNMENT IS NOT ALWAYS THE PROBLEM
Quoting Dick Polman at The Philadelphia Inquirer
When the Obama administration bailed out the auto industry two years ago, said Dick Polman, outraged conservatives predicted disaster. U.S. Rep. John Boehner said he rescue effort "guarantees failure at taxpayer expense," and Sen. Jon McCain scoffed that if there were people who believed that "Chrysler is going to survive, I'd like to meet them." Newt Gingrich went so far as to predict that "Chrysler taxes" would cause the population to rise up in revolt.
Guess what? The free market purists were dead wrong. GM hs emerged from bankruptcy stronger than Ford, with billions in profits, and acclaim for vastly improved quality and reliability. Chrysler has increased its sales every month for the past nine months, and will soon roll out 16 new models. The federal government's bailout dollars are well on the way to being repaid; hundreds of thousands of jobs that would have been permanently lost have been saved. Indeed, the U.S. auto industry has added 53,000 workers since 2009.
The lesson: Sometimes, "government needs to step in to save capitalism from its worst Darwinian excesses."
And from Harold Myerson at The American Prospect
As coroporate profits skyrocket, even as the economy remains stalled in a deep recession, Americans confront a grim new reality: Our corporations don't need us anymore.
Half their revenue comes from abroad. Their products, increasingly, come from abroad as well. With each passing year, America's leading corporations grow more and more decoupled from the American economy. Their interests grow increasingly detached from those of our workers, our consumers--and our economic future.
That's why the current downturn is different from its predecessors: Unlike any recession in American history-including the Great Depression--this one has come at a time when America's leading employers can return to profitability without rehiring large numbers of American workers.
Growing America's economy will only happen with a solid partnership between the public and private sectors.
