Quote of the Day – Auto Edition

James Joyner · Monday, March 30, 2009 · 4 Comments

“Henry Blodget (along with others at Clusterstock) wonders why bankers, notably BoA’s Ken Lewis, are getting such kid glove treatement while GM’s Rick Wagoner gets the axe. I think I can explain that. The White House’s pool of economic advisers isn’t filled to the brim with auto execs.” – Dave Schuler

Indeed. Timothy Geithner and company can readily understand how someone could run a too-big-to-fail financial institution into the ground through no fault of their own. Running an auto company, by contrast, looks easy.

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, James Joyner, AIG, Dave Schuler, financial crisis, GM, quote of the day

About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.

Comments

Tano says:

Monday, March 30, 2009 at 14:34

more light, less snark.
Please.

Helpful or Unhelpful: 0 0
charles austin says:

Monday, March 30, 2009 at 20:34

So the government now runs the car companies. They want to effectively run the financial industry. And healthcare. And that’s all in addition to the usual 23% of GDP it already spends. Not to mention the new 6% of deficit spending to implement President Obama’s agenda.

Not sure what else to say other than, “Repent! The end is near!”

Helpful or Unhelpful: 0 0
G.A.Phillips says:

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 07:29

Running an auto company, by contrast, looks easy.

lol, steeling a auto company for the people looks easy.

Helpful or Unhelpful: 0 0
odograph says:

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 08:23

There are a lot of ways to look at this problem, but the government wanting to run the car companies is not a good one. It is not even factually true.

Is there any initiative to seize Honda USA, or Toyota USA? Why not?

Could it be because they didn’t fail and fly up to Washington to beg?

(I actually think Toyota USA did a mini-beg at one point, but apparently not enough to require oversight.)

Helpful or Unhelpful: 0 0