So I'm reading David Leonhardt's column in today's Times and I come across the following:
Most worrisome, many car buyers in their 20s and 30s don’t even consider buying an American car. These younger buyers are effectively replacing loyal Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler customers in their 60s and 70s, the auto analyst John Wolkonowicz notes. Which is why Detroit’s market share just keeps falling.
Not good. But then it occurs to me: Don't people in their 20s actually like government? So I check out the latest Pew Center report on political values--and it's true:
Maybe the nationalization of GM is just a clever way of getting all those young car buyers back. I suspect they're a lot higher on government than on dying old industrial enterprises. It could be precisely the rebranding GM needs...
--Noam Scheiber