Robert A. Weigand

GM: Buyout Better than Bailout

You may well be right, Mr. Jimmy -- GM may be too far gone for anyone to fix. The timing of the huge economic downdraft makes the simple solution of just letting GM disappear problematic, however. Two or three years ago the economy was in a better position to absorb a GM bankruptcy (which probably leads to liquidation, because their revenues will vanish if they enter bankruptcy). It's virtually inevitable that the federal government will do something to prop up this zombie value-destroyer a little longer. When that happens, I want to see a mechanism that allows some possibility of upside to the taxpayer, and limits the chance that the first $50 billion begets the second $50 billion, etc.


On Nov 21 08:32 AM Mister Jimmy wrote:

> Where have you been, Rob? Cerberus is a private equity firm. They
> bought Chrysler and then realized how incredibly challenging it is
> to design and build product, satisfy legacy obligations and deal
> with Federal emission and CAFE mandates and the UAW. It seems that
> all those New York MBA's really know how to do is churn worthless
> financial instruments. They've proven they can't run a car company.