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US Treasury Completes Bailout of General Motors
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Jim Puzzanghera writes in the LA Times that the federal government has sold its remaining shares of General Motors stock, ending the controversial $49.5-billion bailout of the automaker begun in late 2008 under former President George W. Bush. Although the GM bailout ended with a $10.5-billion loss for taxpayers, Treasury officials say the goal never was to turn a profit. The rescue prevented further damage to the economy and the potential loss of 1 million jobs says Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. 'This marks one of the final chapters in the administration's efforts to protect the broader economy by providing support to the automobile industry.' At its height, taxpayers had a 60.8% ownership stake in GM. The auto bailout will rank as 'one of the most important interventions, maybe the most important, in U.S. economic history,' says Sean McAlinden, chief economist for the Center for Automotive Research. Without it, 'the upper Midwest would still be a gaping, double-digit unemployment hole in the economy, 600,000 retirees would've lost their pensions.' ... The Cadillac CTS was picked as Motor Trend's car of the year and the Chevrolet Impala was the first U.S. car chosen as the best sedan on the market by Consumer Reports in 20 years. 'We will always be grateful for the second chance extended to us and we are doing our best to make the most of it,' says GM CEO Dan Akerson. 'Today is not dramatically different from the hundreds of preceding days during which we have worked to make GM a company our country can be proud of again.'"
it wasn't just GM that had problems, it was just the only one that got bailed out
Ever hear of the finance industry, aka Wall Street? By comparison the GM bailout is lost in the noise. Moreover, there were actual consequences for the company and its management. On Wall Street the CEO's who steered their companies off a cliff (save for the US Treasury and the US Federal Reserve) didn't even lose their jobs. They congratulated themselves for being survivors, and great defenders of the free market. They got bonuses to go with the accolades. Best of all, there were no criminal investigations, despite very strong reasons to conduct them (search on "William K. Black" for details from a banking regulator who got 1000 criminal convictions after the S&L crisis, and thinks this one smells worse).