GM thanks taxpayers for forced bailout.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  November 26th at 02:00 PM  | 

I would have let you collapse, GM. So there’s no need to thank me for your government seizure. My no doubt naive belief in basic capitalism precludes me from fully appreciating said thanks; or, indeed, appreciating them at all. How much of MY tax money went into making this self-congratulatory paean to Italian-style fascism, by the way? Whatever it was, it was too much. Moe | Read More »

SIGTARP auto report out.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  July 19th at 10:00 AM  | 

The short version?  Having the government do your restructuring for you isn’t necessarily the brightest thing in the world.  Particularly when there’s a variety of conflicting objectives.  At least, if what you’re trying to do is actually create a better version of your company; if your goal is to use government fiat to streamline the operations of your newly government-owned automobile manufacturer it apparently works | Read More »

Mercury fallout from the Cash-for-Clunkers program.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  August 31st at 03:30 PM  | 

Let’s walk through the mercury problem (H/T: Instapundit). Automakers used mercury as a component for various auto systems until 2004. They stopped because mercury is toxic, and it gets into stuff that we eat (the actual level of risk is in fact not relevant for this discussion). People get very touchy about toxic elements being thrown out with the rest of the garbage, so there’s | Read More »