President Obama has appointed Ed Montgomery "Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers", which CNN annoyingly refers to as "The Car Czar." What? Who the heck is this guy, and what are his qualifications?
For starters, Czar Montgomery is not a "Car Czar" of any sort, but he was appointed by "The One" during his big speech yesterday, announcing the government's plan to help out GM and screw Chrysler.
Mr. Montgomery is an economist who specializes in job training and local economic development. Montgomery's currently Dean at the University of Maryland, and he's a former Labor Department Deputy Secretary in the Clinton administration. Also, as far as we can tell he's never actually been involved in the auto industry, but he has taught at Michigan State University in Lansing and been a member of the Auto Industry Task Force. But that's OK, because his job has less to do with the auto industry and more to do with directing federal funds to areas hit by the Carpocalypse (re: the urban city center of Detroit) and to manage efforts in retraining auto workers for... something else.
And that's about all we know about this guy. Assume this appointment is double-plus good.