Folks,
The US Govt today became the owner of General Motors. As one Toronto paper
explained, the US govt will also "simultaneously serve as the company's
regulator, tax collector, customer. pension backstop and lender." I love it.
Taxpayers money will be used to prolong the life of a company that cannot sell
its product. The US is repeating the very same experiments made yesterdecade
that bankrupted the Govts of the USSR and China. May I add that the US Govt
plans to pay for its support of the failed car company by printing money.
But there is a bright side to this. Now that GM does not have people lobbying
for fuel inefficient cars, perhaps US cars will finally improve their quality
and fuel efficiency. Then again, the fuel inefficient cars were the ones
providing the biggest 's profit margins for GM. So what's a poor Govt appointed
GM bureaucrat going to decide?
The other change that may come out of this tax payer sponsored fiasco is that
the US may get some real change to its health care system. To put it
bluntly, US car manufactures cannot compete with countries where the local
govts provide health care for the workers. In this regard, I hope GM is kept
alive until heath care reform is made in the US.
One last thing. More health care expenses will result in either higher taxes or
the easier way out i.e. the printing of more money.
Gold looks good now.
Real good.
Mervyn1650Lobo
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