Throwing Good Money After Bad...

Well, here we go again. Looks like another mega-auto bail-out is on the way, as GM and Chrysler (owned by a private equity concern, BTW, so we can't even see their books to know they need the money) blow through another few billion a month, and the begging bowls come out yet again. When will it end? Will it end? Or will we keep propping up these companies, because they are TBTF (Too Big To Fail)?

Has anyone bothered doing the math on the first bailout? The feds and ON Gov't gave $3.29 billion. There are 150,000 people directly employed by the sector in Canada. Now, again this is crude math, but that's close to $22,000 per person! For only a few months!

I've got a better idea. Give the money (or at least some of it) to non-profits to help retrain these folks, or to help them start their own businesses. Or even hire them directly for that matter! If they can't put together cars for a living, can they use those skills to do something else? Anything else? There must be some transferable skills in there somewhere! Could they be, oh, I don't know, mechanics??? Or are we full up of mechanics in Canada?

Seems the Swedes have got the right thinking in place. When GM tried the same sly-dog trick on them and said that Saab would go under if there was no Swedish bail-out, the Minister stated clearly that their government was not in the business of propping up failing businesses. Unemployment insurance, daycare, healthcare, absolutely they will be there for their citizens, but not corporate welfare. Now that's keeping your eye on the ball and not letting mission creep direct your economy.

Although...I really have to wonder...if it was Ikea who came knocking...Nahhhhh!

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