Published 12/11/2008
at The Economist: Full print edition
The rustbelt gets a lifeline “INVEST IN AMERICA”, screamed the front page of the Detroit Free Press on December 4th. Copies of the newspaper were sent to Congress, begging for a bail-out for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. “You can help them,” the paper urged, warning: “And if you don’t, make no mistake: there will be bleeding throughout the land.” The prospect of a collapsed car industry was so terrifying that a church in Detroit placed three hybrid SUVs on its altar and prayed for divine intervention. Politicians, though, make unlikely deities. As The Economist went to press the bail-out was in limbo. Congressional Democrats and the White House had agreed on a $14 billion bridging loan to keep GM and Chrysler afloat until the end of March (Ford is in better shape). A “car tsar” would oversee the companies’ reorganisation. Nationalisation is the subtext of the deal, if not the headline. But though the House passed the bail-out on ...
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