[lovespellszz]

Originally posted by Kontiki


That actually raises an interesting question - ignoring all the woe-is-us economic effects, what would likely happen if the Big Three ceased to exist? Those guys hold an impressive amount of global market share right now. Would there be a fairly uniform grab by all other manufacturers? Would Toyota become an even bigger behemoth? I knew this all sounded familiar...



Hokey, but prescient

Originally posted by Arrian
I've seen the claim made (by lefty types on the 'net) that if we had universal healthcare, GM/Ford/Chrysler would be fixable, because it's primarily the healthcare costs that are killing them.

The argument continues that Honda & Toyota have built-in advantages b/c their Japanese employees have socialized health care, which keeps the companies overall healthcare costs down. Stealth subsidy.

So... here you have Dems elected on a platform of health care reform. Setting aside the fact that we don't know for sure what form it will take (if indeed the Dems succeed in passing anything at all), could that be the bailout GM really needs?

-Arrian The companies can't get enough credit to last more than a few months, while true universal health care (whether single-payer or not) would take several years to fully implement, as would modification of union contracts to take it into account. Even if healthcare is the solution, there would have to be something now to keep them afloat in the meantime.