3 ms·
In this case it is not their fault. The government ordered people to stay home and shut the economy down. The government is merely compensating business for its
by rpiguy 7y ago
In this case it is not their fault. The government ordered people to stay home and shut the economy down. The government is merely compensating business for its own actions, so people may have jobs to go back to when the restrictions are lifted.
In other cases I would totally agree with you. GM never should have been bailed out, and most of the finance companies and banks should have been allowed to go bust in 2008.
- tomp 7y agoWas GM bailed out? I don't think it was... the original company went bankrupt, the government effectively bought it in bankruptcy to preserve jobs (and US car manufacturing capacity), but I though the original shareholders were left with nothing, so not exactly a bailout.
- rpiguy 7y agoTrue. The US government spent 51 billion dollars so the new GM could continue to operate without disruption and continue to pay employees and retirees and took a 61% stake that they eventually sold for 39 billion. So the government lost 12 billion plus the time value of money. The retirees were lucky that the Democrats were in charge. While a republican may have also provided a bail out, they may have forced a true chapter 11 where the retirees’ pensions are reduced to the federal minimum. The new GM would have emerged without the pension liability.