I agree with most of what you said but I do believe that the bailout of the financial markets was a mistake. The financials would have undegone some tough times but the well managed financials would have weathered the storm and become stronger for it. To use some of your own words, Bankruptcy restructuring of the financials is the only hope for an industry that is bloated with high paid but stupid VP's directing some poor lending practices and strategic investment policies.
The Government made it extremely attractive to give out bad loans to people who could not really afford them in the first place. That led to a situation where the slightest upset in the cost of goods and services would have a deletrious effect on the entire economy. Along came the high gas prices at the same time the USA had the highest negative trade imbalance due to almost everything purchased being made in another country. Yep, we all wanted the cheap foreign goods and the McMansions but never thought of how we were going to pay for them once the jobs of the USA working masses were in another country. When it came to vehicles we wanted the big vehicles so that is what we bought. Only when we were caught in the headlights of high oil prices did we change our minds about what we were willing to drive.
Unions were both helpful and harmful. They protected the jobs of those who would not work but wanted every wage, vacation, and health care benefit. The Auto companies responded by giving the union worker what they wanted and at the same time automating everything they could in the plants and out sourcing most parts to any able non-union shop in the world. I suppose the autos could have shut down the plants and defied the union workers, and gone out of business but they instead chose to stay in business but make an end run around the union problem.
There is plenty of blame to go around but to allow only certain businesses to get government bailout money while denying others that same opportunity will only upset the economic balance even further. This is the second time the US Government has bailed out the financials.
By the way the 25 billion dollars to the automotives is a loan but the government bailout of the financials like AIG is a gift which does not have to be paid back. Where is the equity in that? The issue with the financials is that many of the dudes in Washington have a big personal stake in what happens to the financials and they reacted quickley to save their own butts. The autos are a different story since the dudes in Washington have no personal financial interest in the health of that industry.
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Today's Featured Article - Third Brush Generators - by Chris Pratt. While I love straightening sheet metal, cleaning, and painting old tractors, I use every excuse to avoid working on the on the electrics. I find the whole process sheer mystery. I have picked up and attempted to read every auto and farm electrics book with no improvement in the situation. They all seem to start with a chapter entitled "Theory of Electricity". After a few paragraphs I usually close the book and go back to banging out dents. A good friend and I were recently discussing our tractor electrical systems when he stated "I figure it all comes back to applying Ohms Law". At this point
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