There was a documentary released in 2006 called Who Killed the Electric Car?. This movie really provides detailed information about the the auto industry and possibly why the big three auto makers are in their current financial mess. They have the technology and the ability to produce these electric cars at affordable prices, but yet refused to continue to do so.
It hasn’t been until just recently (when the companies are about to go under because they just can’t hack it financially), that they are considering the idea again. And this time, they want more bailout money from the government. A recent news article suggest that they need more money to produce their electric car idea:
General Motors Corp., a wounded company living on cash borrowed from the government, didn’t behave like one Monday as it unveiled ambitious plans to research and assemble lithium-ion batteries in Michigan and picked a Korean company to supply the cells to power the Chevrolet Volt electric car.
But a top executive raised the prospect that GM will need more federal loans later in the year if the U.S. auto market doesn’t improve, saying that the company presented a worst-case scenario to the government last year that would require $18 billion in loans, $4.6 billion more than the Bush administration has granted.
Do the auto makers think that the American people are stupid? Does our government leaders think that the American people are stupid? Here is the simple truth: welfare programs DO NOT WORK!
There is an old Chinese proverb that says something like, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; Teach him how to fish, feed him for life.” As long as the government keeps throwing money at the auto makers, they will not survive but will ultimately die and go bankrupt once the free money stops. The best solution is NO GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION! The free capitalist market corrects problems like this by itself. It tear down existing barriers to entry and allow other companies entry into the marketplace. It would force companies to have the best innovative technologies, or they will not survive. It is government intervention that has stifled domestic competition among United States auto makers (such as the case in the documentary: Tucker – A Man and His Dream) and it is the government that is responsible for the current situation of the United States auto industry. Special thanks to the Congress of the United States, which currently has less than 10% approval rating. (That means that 90% of Americans do NOT approve the actions of Congress!).
Related posts:
