http://www.freep.com/article/2008112.../1210/BUSINESS

This article brings up some great points:

These are the same things I've been wondering...

 

Well, as to the remarks about Citibank, remember that that bank has something like 200 million accounts worldwide in more than 100 countries. Start doing the math and you quickly realize failure there is simply not an option.

The financial system needs to get shored up before ANYTHING else. It's fundamental economics. If you don't stabilize the world's largest financial market, assistance to ANY other industry becomes moot.

Now, THAT BEING SAID, I also believe that the Big 3 must receive assistance, too, and some believe a pre-packaged Chapter 11 with guarantees might be the way to go. I don't know. But I do believe any assistance must come with prerequisites for restructuring the things that are broken with the US auto industry's legacy, labor and business models.

AT THE SAME TIME, the US government must acknowledge its OWN culpability in this matter by enabling free trade policies that are anything but free for American manufacturing jobs. China and Japan can dump good on our shores tariff-free whilst simultaneously tacking on huge tariffs on American made cars entering the orient. That's total BS and makes for an unfair playing field.

It's also total BS that China continually violates its WTO obligations by not allowing its currency to fluctuate. And we keep putting up with it.

Bottom line: there is plenty of blame to go around here, and all the players who are pointing fingers should STFU and start working together to fix ALL these problems, otherwise the Big 3 likely will be back for another bailout in a few years.

 

And if anyone really believes that UAW workers deserve $38 per hour (including benefits), you might want to watch this.



[Note: I think this was a deleted scene from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.]

 

Yes, the financial system needs to be stabilized, BUT there needs to be more scrutiny into what's being done with the billions being handed out to these banks.

Congress should be as tougher at questioning and examining the banks' plans than they were on the big 3, as there are billions more of taxpayer money at stake and the entire financial system of our country.

But so far, they've given out more and more money without being as hard on Citigroup, AIG, etc. as they were GM, Chrysler & Ford.

 

No argument there.

And what's worse still >> think about where all this money is coming from in the short term. Sure the taxpayers are footing the bill...but over the long haul. Right now the money is coming from running up the deficit...which means borrowing from...guess where....?

 

China.

We cannot keep this spending spree up. Eventually China is going to say "pay up"!

The one thing I hope Obama does is reigns in spending and works towards a balanced budget.

 

Ding, ding, ding!

You win the prize.

Well, I've been listening to and reading the comments of a lot of economic experts, and in their view the deficit isn't nearly as serious as the financial crisis and dried up credit. They believe the economy must be stimulated back into productivity - with new jobs created - and then the deficit will have to come after that. It's sort of like dealing with a patient's current heart attack before worrying about treating his cancer.

 

Bingo. The fact that there isalready a missive defecit is a problem, and if it were smaller that would make the big spending needed to rebuild our economy easier. But trying to balance the budget right now with the economy tanking (and tax revenues falling as a result) would be a fool's errand. Right the ship, then worry about giving the engines a lube job.

BTW China can't "call the bills due." For a myriad of reasons, doing so would wreck as much havoc on they as on us. It's in their interest to maintain the status quo, which is why they got into the arrangement in the first place.