With the automakers in the market’s cross hairs, comments from Treasury’s Kashkari, the guy brought in from Goldman to oversee the TARP program, that he has not ruled out providing funds to firms outside the financial sector are particularly timely.
The CEOs of GM and Ford have each been on Capitol Hill and on TV, holding out their tin cup. Their pitch is that a failure would have enormous ripple effects across the US and the global economy. Indisputably true. But what will a government bailout do beyond putting a band-aid on a gushing wound? The industry has been in decline for decades. It is hard to see government help just prolonging the agony. Talk about your Hobbesian choices….
