Another aspect to the GM bailout

Sergeant Thorne · Post by **Sergeant Thorne** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:10 pm

Maybe you've all considered this already, but I don't believe I've heard it anywhere, and I just thought of it. A possible scenario...

-The Government is invested in GM (is it already? I haven't been keeping up with that).
-Someone starts a brilliant new car company in the U.S. (unlikely, I would think, with Obama tax plans, but it ought to be able to happen).
-This new car company is working against competition that the Federal Government has an interest in...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems to me to be a serious potential conflict of interest.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:29 pm

Auto manufacturing is not exactly a start up business, I’ve been trying to explain this to people for some time…

Anyway, You are correct, the possibility of the government subsidizing its own interests, certainly would give them a competitive advantage.

Sergeant Thorne · Post by **Sergeant Thorne** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:04 pm

Spidey wrote:Auto manufacturing is not exactly a start up business, I’ve been trying to explain this to people for some time…

I think I can understand that. And maybe I'm mistaken in assuming that it could be, but that's kind of how I've been thinking. What if I came up with an idea for a new kind of car? I would start relatively small, and perhaps this wouldn't truly affect me until I could take production on a national scale. I don't know. Maybe there are some restrictions I don't know about, but I try not to assume restrictions if I don't know.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:36 pm

But don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to imply that it’s not possible, but just very difficult.

The companies making cars today started when you slapped a motor on a chassis made in a bike shop…things are far more complicated today, just complying with government regulations is a challenge.

Tesla Motors is a good example of a start up car company, and also a good example of just how difficult it really is.

I don’t mean to lecture you, I just think people don’t value the existing infrastructure as much as they should.

Sergeant Thorne · Post by **Sergeant Thorne** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:45 pm

No, I appreciate your thoughts on that; and I think I agree with you.