Chrysler
Keen for Gene and the Green Machine
Most of us are used to seeing the words "Detroit" and "Downsizing" in headlines. And we know what to expect. But today's New York Times story on the "Downsizing of Detroit," written by Bill Vlasick, is something different. Downsizing in this case refers to the size of the cars American automakers are producing. It turns out they're getting smaller, as the industry focuses more on fuel-efficient vehicles. Of course, experts have been begging Detroit to build smaller cars for years.
Is the Favorite to Replace Larry Summers Too Close To Wall Street?
[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] If you’ve spent much time talking to Treasury officials over the past two years, you’ve probably heard them joke that Gene Sperling, a counselor to Secretary Tim Geithner, is the department’s in-house populist. What makes this funny (insofar as wonk humor can be funny) is that Sperling isn’t exactly your classic pitch-fork wielder. He was director of Bill Clinton’s National Economic Council (NEC) in the late ‘90s, a period when the White House got pretty good marks for its understanding of business and the broader economy.
Obama’s Hold on Big Business
Two weeks after a mid-term election in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce helped thwart Barack Obama and the Democrats, the group’s CEO, Tom Donohue, gave a speech that read like a doubling down of sorts. “We cannot allow this nation to move from a government of the people to a government of the regulators,”he said.
The Bailout That Worked
General Motors made news twice this week. First it announced that it was investing $190 million in a Michigan factory that will build its newest Cadillac and, along the way, create 600 jobs. Then it announced it would be buying back some of the preferred stock now owned by the Treasury Department, further reducing its debt to the government. Even after the repurchase, GM will still owe the taxpayers around $40 billion. And the new GM workers are making a lot less money than old ones do. But the news is still pretty good--and, more important, it’s not isolated.
Kenosha Says Goodbye to Chrysler
The last Chrysler plant in Kenosha, Wisc. is closing this week, the end of a 108-year auto manufacturing legacy that began with Nash and Hudson, becoming American Motors in the 1950s, and included the “Kenosha Cadillac”--the Nash Rambler. I point this out not to pile on to what’s an all too familiar story but to point out to those interested in getting beyond the usual Manufacturing Belt tales of woe and “ruin porn” to a valuable new media resource in the region. Changing Gears is a public media collaborative hosted by public radio stations in Ann Arbor, Chicago, and Cleveland but I’ve also
An Interview with Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner’s Overhaul hits bookstores this week. But if you were expecting shocking revelations about inner workings of the Obama White House, you’ll be disappointed. Yes, Ratther is the first former administration official to write a book about his time there. But the palace intrigue in Overhaul isn’t really that intriguing. So Rahm Emanuel drops a lot of f-bombs? Larry Summers can be a bully? At the risk of depressing Rattner’s sales, I think we knew that already. But Overhaul does offer something else—something I, for one, find a lot more valuable than Washington gossip.
An Interview with Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner’s Overhaul hits bookstores this week. But if you were expecting shocking revelations about inner workings of the Obama White House, you’ll be disappointed. Yes, Rattner is the first former administration official to write a book about his time there. But the palace intrigue in Overhaul isn’t really that intriguing. So Rahm Emanuel drops a lot of f-bombs? Larry Summers can be a bully? At the risk of depressing Rattner’s sales, I think we knew that already. But Overhaul does offer something else—something I, for one, find a lot more valuable than Washington gossip.
What You Need to Know About Austan Goolsbee (and Then Some...)
[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] One of the least suspenseful decisions in Washington became official today when President Obama named Austan Goolsbee to be the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. Goolsbee, who’s on leave from the University of Chicago, is a longtime Obama adviser currently serving as a member of the three-person Council.
It’s the Politicking, Stupid!
Washington—President Obama's address to the nation on Iraq this week underscores the agony of his presidency, and its core political problem. Seen from the inside, the administration is an astonishing success. Obama has kept his principal promises and can take credit for achievements that eluded his Democratic predecessors. He pledged to have all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this month and, as Obama will remind us on Tuesday, he's accomplished just that. Congress enacted a comprehensive health care bill and a sweeping reform of how the financial system is regulated.
