Not sure about that post-mortem analysis of GM. They didn’t make cars that consumers wanted? Well, if that was really the case, they would have been out of business a long time ago. And they’re failure to respond rapidly and adequately to the gas price spikes in the 70s and 80s doesn’t seem to me to have a lot of influence on their failure today. I thought they were merely a casualty of the recession which is what recessions do. Cars sales fell off a cliff and they were not in a position to handle such a preciptous decline. It’s not like Toyota isn’t feeling the pain of all of that massive capacity it built.
Though he did bring up an interesting question: what responsibility to companies owe communities? If I’m the only factory in town making textiles and via global trade it costs much less to just import textiles from India and if through that force I close up shop, what do I owe the citizens of that small town (other than previously made employee benefit commitments)? Alternatively, if a large multi-national textile company (to stick with the textile example) is in the same position, they may not go out of business in closing the factory: do they owe that community something different? I am uncertain that employers’ responsibility includes providing for eternal employment for a given job in a given geographic area.
I think Mr. Moore’s idea to turn GM into an instrument of government is dangerous. Corporate boards would be unlikely to take government money in the future. Better to bite the bullet and declare bankruptcy. But the larger issue would be if government is directing production, who is buying what is produced?
tx2vadem
Not sure about that post-mortem analysis of GM. They didn’t make cars that consumers wanted? Well, if that was really the case, they would have been out of business a long time ago. And they’re failure to respond rapidly and adequately to the gas price spikes in the 70s and 80s doesn’t seem to me to have a lot of influence on their failure today. I thought they were merely a casualty of the recession which is what recessions do. Cars sales fell off a cliff and they were not in a position to handle such a preciptous decline. It’s not like Toyota isn’t feeling the pain of all of that massive capacity it built.
Though he did bring up an interesting question: what responsibility to companies owe communities? If I’m the only factory in town making textiles and via global trade it costs much less to just import textiles from India and if through that force I close up shop, what do I owe the citizens of that small town (other than previously made employee benefit commitments)? Alternatively, if a large multi-national textile company (to stick with the textile example) is in the same position, they may not go out of business in closing the factory: do they owe that community something different? I am uncertain that employers’ responsibility includes providing for eternal employment for a given job in a given geographic area.
I think Mr. Moore’s idea to turn GM into an instrument of government is dangerous. Corporate boards would be unlikely to take government money in the future. Better to bite the bullet and declare bankruptcy. But the larger issue would be if government is directing production, who is buying what is produced?