In a five-year retrospective on the effect that 9/11 had on the nation's economy, Slate's Daniel Gross asks why the financial first-responders have often ended up pushing up daisies five years after the fact, a portion of note to Los Jalopniks was the wave of zero-percent financing unfurled to keep America rolling and consuming. Quoth the Gross:

Consumers became conditioned to the availability of financing gimmicks, rebates, and incentives, which has killed margins at GM and Ford. And the efforts didn't succeed in stopping the firms' continuing slide in market share.

And the question remains, was the notion keeping America rolling in the wake of tragedy merely forestalling a screeching halt?

Sept. 11's Financial Heroes [Slate]

Related:
FoMoCo's Way Forward II: A Way Out of Ford? [Internal]

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