I read it and it makes a lot of sense.

Nathan

For once you and I are on the same page.

I agree. The current discussions of bailing out Detroit's big three automakers shield the automakers from the very economic feedback that they require in order to avoid making the same mistakes on larger and larger scales. That is not only stupid, it is cruel. Economic accountability is an indispensable teacher for a company that has lost its way.

@Laserlawyer - 

Exactly. The blame for GM's falling behind Toyota, for instance, lies almost exclusively with GM's insistence on continuing to do things that worked years ago, regardless of how economic forces shifted.

Nate - What responsibility, if any, do you think the UAW has in this situation?

@newworldview - 

That's a good question. I guess to answer, I'd say there's at least 3 factors at work here in Detroit's hardship. One would probably be unions pushing for ever-higher wages, and it may be that they pushed too far, although I don't know enough about that issue. Second would be the rising cost of health care, which the automakers and the unions are both trying to push on each other. One might say that the unions are bankrupting Detroit with healthcare costs, but one must admit that they're all in a tight squeeze, and healthcare costs are a big problem that none of them can control. The third issue, and I think this is most important, has nothing to do with the UAW: lack of innovation in Detroit. These companies have been marketing to yesterday's customers, and their lame attempts at alternative-fuel vehicles are too little, too late. Toyota's got them beat on every front, and it's largely their own fault.

Interesting, although I think the core issue with GM lies not just with a failure to embrace innovation. My parents used to buy American...until a 1975 Nova and a 1982 Citation insured that they would never, ever, ever buy another GM car again. As an eight year old, I remember helping my dad with our stalled out Nova in the middle of an intersection in a small town in South Carolina. As a teenager, I learned to drive on our Citation...which broke down pretty much once a month. On the way to a wedding, the power steering failed...my mom couldn't even turn the wheel. Even though I was 15 and not technically supposed to be driving, I had to get us there. The fuel injection failed repeatedly. On one occasion, while shifting into reverse, the entire shift assembly came off in my hand. My parents now only buy Hondas. For the same reason, my in-laws buy only imports.

The blame there lies with 1) execs who chose profit maximization over product quality and; 2) workers who focused more on pride in wage and less on pride in craftsmanship. Building a lousy product never, ever worked.

@Beloved_Spear - 

That's a good point. I guess when I say "innovation", I include quality under that. Toyota "innovated" by not only introducing smaller cars but also better quality ones; GM failed to see this and continued with the throw-away-car mindset.