Comment & Debate
David Lazarus. “Bail out Big Three? Sure, with conditions”. Los Angeles Times. 16 Nov. 2008 – “It would be hugely catastrophic if Detroit went under,” said Ehrlich, 60. “Some level of assistance would be helpful.”
Then he climbed into his German-made Porsche and roared off.
It’s a tricky business, this latest bailout. Many of us are deeply concerned that millions of workers would lose their jobs if General Motors, Ford and/or Chrysler collapsed.
Yet many of us contributed indirectly to the automakers’ financial woes by choosing “foreign” vehicles — a choice influenced by a perception, warranted or not, that Japanese and European cars are better than their American counterparts.
Kate McLeod. “Help Detroit!”. Wow O Wow. 2 Dec. 2008 – “They didn’t build green cars,” you say? Well, we wanted pickups and SUVS. It just so happens that we liked pickups and SUVs, and they are still the best-selling vehicles. Sure, Detroit should have built better-looking, better-performing and better-quality cars — but how can we blame them for selling us what we wanted? By the way, today’s Detroit cars are pretty good — from the Ford Mustang to the Chevy Malibu to the Chrysler minivan — still the best-selling minivan in the world.