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Friday's Random Thoughts
Nov. 14th, 2008 09:19 amI will be attending Windycon this weekend, and am on programming. It's a new hotel, so hopefully people can actually find the programming without fighting the maze of the old place. Before I go, I do have a few random thoughts:
Big Three Automaker Bailout
As I mentioned the other day, I am generally in favor of some kind of bailout. Now, I've seen this discussed on various right-wing sites, and the anti-bailout crowd's rallying cry is "remember British Leyland! For those not up on auto manufacturing history, British Leyland was what happened in 1968 with Great Britain nationalized and force-merged the two British automakers.
Nobody can argue that the resulting company managed to become a competitive automaker. It did not - not that the bailout plans so far involve a forced merger. However, what Leyland did accomplish was prevent a sudden collapse of the British auto industry, with the resulting fire-sale of assets. By keeping the factories running, Leyland was able to sell off assets in an orderly fashion at a decent price, and unwind its workforce. So, if nothing else, Leyland succeeded at cushioning the blow. I submit that a US auto industry bailout would be at least as successful.
ETA Read this article which points out that the Big Three are already well into the kinds of reforms they need to make.
US Foreign Policy
Over on Jim Wright's blog, he's got an open letter to the Obama administration regarding foreign policy. All I can say is "amen." It's a bit long, but well worth the read.
Big Three Automaker Bailout
As I mentioned the other day, I am generally in favor of some kind of bailout. Now, I've seen this discussed on various right-wing sites, and the anti-bailout crowd's rallying cry is "remember British Leyland! For those not up on auto manufacturing history, British Leyland was what happened in 1968 with Great Britain nationalized and force-merged the two British automakers.
Nobody can argue that the resulting company managed to become a competitive automaker. It did not - not that the bailout plans so far involve a forced merger. However, what Leyland did accomplish was prevent a sudden collapse of the British auto industry, with the resulting fire-sale of assets. By keeping the factories running, Leyland was able to sell off assets in an orderly fashion at a decent price, and unwind its workforce. So, if nothing else, Leyland succeeded at cushioning the blow. I submit that a US auto industry bailout would be at least as successful.
ETA Read this article which points out that the Big Three are already well into the kinds of reforms they need to make.
US Foreign Policy
Over on Jim Wright's blog, he's got an open letter to the Obama administration regarding foreign policy. All I can say is "amen." It's a bit long, but well worth the read.
