By Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row
GM—gone?
Published Jun 19, 2009 11:35 PM
From a June 6 audio column at www. prisonradio.org. Go to
www.millions4mumia.org for legal and political updates on Mumia’s
case.
Having entered bankruptcy court (even a so-called ‘structural’
bankruptcy), General Motors is making history. It was once the titanic behemoth
of American business, making more money than any other business.
In 2006, GM reported revenues of $207 billion, yet profits were minus $1.9
billion. As we know, even a titanic can sink.
Three years ago, GM was the third-largest U.S. corporation in revenues. Today
it has been de-listed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as its stock price
fell below $1 a share.
The U.S. government is now loaning billions to GM, totaling almost $50 billion
in taxpayer dollars, without any assurance that it’ll be repaid.
GM was the nation’s largest automaker, manufacturing Chevrolet, Pontiac,
Cadillac, Buick, Saab and Saturn. Some models are being discontinued, while
others will be sold. They also made the Hummer, a gas-guzzling SUV that has
reportedly been sold to a Chinese manufacturer.
Critics in Congress and in the corporate media have blamed GM’s problems
on their payroll and so-called “legacy” costs, meaning
retirees’ benefits.
Even after the crumbling of the business model, the anti-union animus of such
critics remains a central concern of the political and propaganda elites, many
of whom praised the passage of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) as
“good for business” and therefore “good for
America.”
But only a numbskull believes those on the assembly line designed or decided
which kind of cars would be built or sold.
GM suffered from managerial myopia, which could not adapt to changing market
conditions.
Thirty years ago, when the U.S. faced an oil crisis, small cars began to appear
on the roads. As oil prices stabilized, U.S. car makers built fleets of SUVs,
which sold quite well to Americans who wanted the civilian equivalent of a tank
in their garage.
But the gas crisis of 2007 put an end to that idea. U.S. automakers
couldn’t give these things away.
In the meantime, car makers in Korea and Japan, which built safe, affordable
cars with extended warranties and polite customer services to Americans, are
GM’s lunch. Other Asian companies are joining the club. India’s
Tata Motors, makers of the cheapest car in the world—the $2,000
Nano—has just acquired Jaguar and Land Rover.
Being “too big to fail” is a political judgment, not an economic
one. In classic capitalist theory, a business survives if it sells products and
makes a profit.
We are beyond that point now. Politics may disguise the problem, but it
can’t solve it.
Mumia’s new book: Jailhouse Lawyers
Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A.
is available at Leftbooks.com
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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