We have been hearing for some time that automakers in the United States have been facing some very difficult times. They have been before the U.S. Senate asking for government funding to keep them afloat. Originally their request was denied, however former president Bush signed an executive order appropriating funds to assist them. However, General Motors are now saying that was not enough, and that their problems are so deep seated that they are seriously facing bankruptcy.
The three major automakers in the U.S. are GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Together, with smaller parts makers, they are the most labour intensive industry in the United States. The consequences of GM closing are the same as the sky falling. It simply cannot be imagined.
U.S. automakers are in large part their own worst enemy. They have failed to make good, fuel economy cars that Americans want to buy. That gave an opportunity to Japanese firms to satisfy that market, resulting in the loss of that market to the Big Three. But the problem that they now face is common to all automakers, in that as people lose their jobs, or watch a shrinking economy, car sales have fallen like a heavy rock.
Many of their workers have already been sent home as they are overproducing inventory that no one is buying. A complete closure would add so many people to the unemployed roster as to spell complete disaster.
Filmmakers have put their imagination to work in creating disaster films where people live like rats in underground sewers and abandoned buildings without law and order.
As a reality, is this so difficult to imagine? Stay tuned!
Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael
