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Argument: Past US auto bailouts only fostered dependencies

Issue Report: Bailout of US automakers

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Bill Steigerwald. “Don’t Bail Out the Big Three”. Town Hall. 17 Nov. 2008 – “A One of the examples I’m hearing from proponents of the current bailout is, “Let’s go back to 1979 when Chrysler was bailed out. That was a success story. Chrysler came out of bankruptcy and paid back the U.S. taxpayer with interest after four years.” Well, to me, the fact that the government stepped in back then has been an enabling implicit guarantee for the Big Three ever since. Had Chrysler gone under back then, I am convinced that the unions would not have had as much power as they had during the 1980s, because they would have been dealing with two companies instead of three. So they would have had less leverage. So had Chrysler had gone under then, the “Big Two” might not be in the position that they are in right now.”