It is quite entertaining.. --------------------------------------------snip One would have thought that a man as savvy as Rattner would have made the Detroit visit sound a little less of a burden. The Auto Czar should want to see the industry he is supposedly fixing, shouldn’t he? But this is what makes “Overhaul” so unexpectedly fascinating. It is the product of someone so convinced of the value of his contribution, and of the private-equity model, that he feels no need to hide his condescension.
Team Auto makes sure to rent a car at the airport with G.P.S., “since none of us knew our way around Detroit.” At the U.A.W., Rattner looks with pleasure at what he takes to be evidence of his own industry’s handiwork: “Far from browbeating us, they gave a thorough presentation that included as many details and figures as investment bankers would have used. (I later learned that my old firm Lazard had helped prepare it.)” Then it was on to G.M. and finally to Chrysler. But not for long, because time was short and the real work of saving Detroit, of course, has nothing to do with Detroit. “We walked among the vehicles—sedans and trucks and even a Fiat 500—as the Chrysler people talked about advanced hybrid power trains and new, environmentally friendly diesels,” Rattner continues. “But by this point our goal was not to miss our flight back to the mountain of work that awaited us back in Washington.” Read more http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/11/01/101101crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all#ixzz144J6FC1L -raghu. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
