GM accounts for ~ 1% of the USGDP.

This is not good news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10138507/

-Trevor

I just heard they will be laying off over 30,000 people in the next few years

Unfortunately, this has been a long time coming. If they did some changes years ago when they first realized this, it wouldn't be as big of an issue today.
Oh well, hindsight...


This is why I won't ever buy a car other than one from the big (getting smaller) three. The only contradicting thing to that is that these days, the big three are in bed so hard with the Asian makers that my refusal to buy foreign cars still ends up putting money in Asian pockets.
Friggin' sad.

Too true.

I'm not sure what they were thinking when they basically shelved their economy vehicle development to make room for more SUVs. Although nobody (likely) could have predicted the gas price spike of this past year it's not like we didn't know that petroleum is a dwindling resource.

The real tipoff came a few months ago when Ford shitcanned the Excursion. All of the tooling expenses had already been paid off...so all it cost to build those trucks was the price of raw materials and labor...and they still couldn't justify the expenditures to keep it going.

Like I said in the past I considered buying the Chevy Equinox up until I found out the engine is made in China.

I think we are slowly realizing that WWII and the glory days that followed are now long gone. Globalization pretty much put half of that effect to bed...

..and ironically, the other half will come home to roost as the baby boomers (the other big post-WWII US commodity) retire. The health-care costs associated with maintaining a decent quality of life for those folks will put a helluva strain on the rest of our economy.

-Trevor

Yep, the retiring baby boomers will definitely have a huge effect on the current system. If the health care system goes to shit, along with social security & other similar stuff...God help us.

With the continuation of our Middle East problem, I can't help but assume that the companies who make all the machinery for our defense systems aren't running at peak production right now...maybe I'm wrong, I haven't heard.
But if I'm right, the folks who are gonna be laid off from GM would be a shoe-in for a lot of those type jobs, I would think.

From what I've been hearing the job cuts are not going to be an easy-out for GM. Evidently the majority will be accompanied with sizable severence packages, partial pay until alternative employment is found, early retirement incentives, and the like.

Thus the employee goes from paid FTE status straight to pension (or equivalent). Not exactly a great way for GM to dig itself out of the hole.

I dunno about the war machine option (Z can speak of it w/more authority since he spent his summer vacation welding armor onto hummers). Seems to me that although endless war is great for the manufacturing sector it's also a very expensive way to drum up business. I'm not sure if we can keep up the pace for say the next 10-15 years; that hit on the economy that is coming with the boomers might dry up the war chest quicker than we think.

It strikes me as something of a catch-22.

-Trevor

I agree. I thought about that very thing during my turn in the daily 7mph parking lot bumper car race...what used to be known as the morning commute.

I was wondering how much longer our country could still remain economically strong if we continue to hemorrage money into the Middle East war fiasco. Although I do agree about 90% with what we're doing there, as you stated, I can't help that soon we'll be bringing some serious economic problems to the surface if we continue at this rate.
I can't imagine that we could keep up this pace for 10-15 years without severly weakening the financial foundation of our country...hell, even 5-10 years would cause some serious strain.

If we'd just hurry up and nuke & pave, we could get all this behind us.

Well it looks like they're wrangling behind the scenes to get some of that money back:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArt ... REPORT.xml

"Reparations" in the form of privatization of formerly state-run industries (such as oil) and other payouts have always been mentioned as part of the plan. In fact they sold this adventure as one that would be over quick and pay for itself...

..but it'll be hard to make it look like much more than an imperialist land grab if we are seen to be leaving them to govern themselves while we turn our attention to looting their industry. And I'm not quite sure how it would affect our native workforce in the short term.

Perhaps this guy will be the model for members of our recently-displaced working class:



Thomas Hamill went over there to drive trucks and dig his family out of debt. Fortunately he can now supplement his income as an author. Certainly there is a booming business opportunity for those who want to venture over there. The "independent contractors" are making money hand over fist.....with my EMS experience I could take any one of a number of very well-paying contract jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan providing basic medical care to "clients" of various nationality and uniform.

But since the govt is likely the one paying for all the independents over there I suspect this will dry up sommat soon as well.

Perhaps GM can sell their vehicles to the Iraqi citizenry in a few years?

-Trevor

A huge percentag of new car cost is not only healthcare to it's employees, but also healthcare and exorbitant pension plans negotiated (and foolishly accepted) for it's former employees by the UAW. Back in the fat-cat times, the UAW took every possible thing plus the kitchen sink for it's members and the big three just bent over and took it. Shame on them all .Cheers, Lee S.

Looks like they're cutting the salaries for top execs now.

GM did not specify what the 2006 salaries of its top executive would be. In 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, Wagoner received a salary of $2.2 million and a bonus of $2.46 million, plus stock options worth $5.14 million. Lutz received total compensation of $6.46 million, and Devine $6.28 million, including salaries of $1.55 million and bonuses of $1.4 million.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provid ... ID=5482326

-Trevor

Damn, I'd be happy just making anything to the right of any of those decimal points.