Bankruptcy

GM & Our Socialist Angst

By John Pottow

Much hand-wringing has occurred over the government's large equity stake in GM (or, New GM) announced as part of its mostly prepackaged plan of reorganization, with of course "Government Motors" appearing on newscast graphics.  Leaving aside the socialists in our midst who welcome such acknowledgment of who controls the means of production, I'd like to speak to the nervous capitalists -- is it the end of our market impulses as fretted by some?

Of course not.  The U.S. government has interceded as "reluctant shareholders" (their talking point) and has no intention -- nor past demonstration -- of running GM like an extension of the DMV.  Sure, they booted the CEO, but almost everything we've seen to date from Rattner's Task Force suggests the careful scrutinizing that any hard-nosed financier would inflict upon a debtor.  Do you really think if we have left this to a congressional subcommittee we'd have seen the closure of 11 plants?

Let's put aside the alarmist rhetoric of the End of Capitalism, shall we?

Full post as published by Credit Slips on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).