Auto industry bailout: Damned if we do and Damned if we don’t
Ever since fuel economy became a national issue with the Arab oil embargoes in the 1970′s, Detroit resisted increasing fuel economy standards. Enter Japanese imports which swept the US market with high miles per gallon cars. But instead of countering the new foreign competition by building better cars with even higher fuel efficiency, Detroit cried foul and waged “Buy American” campaigns. I remember one car commercial in the 1970s that attempted to convince consumers that it wasn’t mpg that was important but how far you can go on a tank of gas. How insulting was that? The auto industry has continued to fight long and hard against every attempt to tighten up safety, fuel economy and emission standards. Ironically winning these battles has cost them the war. Detroit has run out of gas. So what do we do now? [Read more →]