Government Motors

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2009/05/government-motors

This report that the U.S. government will end up owning 70 percent of the post-bankruptcy General Motors raises some questions. How long will the government hold on to that stake? And if you are an owner of a competing car company — for example, a shareholder in Ford or Toyota or Honda — do you really want to be competing with an auto-maker whose owner, Uncle Sam, has the power to set rules for auto emissions and fuel economy and is also a major purchaser of cars for the federal fleet?

Or could government ownership wind up running GM into the ground, and end up being good for its competitors and bad for its taxpayer-owners? Federal Express and UPS, after all, have done pretty well competing with the United States Postal Service. It'll be interesting to see for how long Government Motors keeps cranking out cars like the gas guzzling Cadillac Escalade.

by Editor  |  May 26, 2009 at 3:36 pm Related Topics:  Auto Industry receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list