I think the only reason GM's able to start paying back the loans so quickly is simply they borrowed more than they needed to. Probably so they could start paying it back sooner, as a PR move. Like you said, GM's PR department isn't stupid, but they think the rest of us are.
@HurtsSoGood: They needed money AND they were blowing smoke up our asses.
Kind of like when you couldn't make rent right after you finished college, and scared your parents into lending you $1,500. But you didn't tell them that you spent $400 of this on concert tickets and beer, and when you paid them back $200 early it was just so that they'd forget about the remainder.
Edited by Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est at 11/19/09 11:08 PM
Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est was starred
Mr.choppers - Delenda Carthago Est was unstarred
Incorrect. The cars are commodities, of which none are sold for less than the price of materials, therefore any monetary loss is associated with labor, manufacturing overhead, and administrative cost.
Let's assume that the profit on the materials can outpace the facility overhead cost, and break it down to where all losses are associated with personnel, both labor and administration.
Let us furthermore assume that the taxpayer funded loan was a gift, and that none of it will come back.
Then, let us assume that the funds remained within North America.
With approximately 112,000 employees in North America, 8.6 billion dollars works out to $76,785 per worker that the taxpayers have spent.
Fire them all, and give me back my money. All $30 of it ($8.6 billion divided by the current US population of 300 million is only $28.67; The $1.33 is interest)
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Quick. Everyone buy an Aveo just to spite the taxbuyer. "Look at this! Look at it! Yeah, that's right! This pile of misery cost you 12 Grover Clevelands!"
Why the hell can't we outsource these morons? I want to see these studies coming from Indochina pronto. In mangled English of course. Like the old motherboard manuals back in the day.
@mytdawg: About the Author
Thomas D. Hopkins is Professor of Economics at Rochester Institute of Technology. He served as Dean of the College of Business 1998-2005 and as President, U.S. Business School in Prague, Czech Republic, an RIT MBA program where he taught 1992-98. He was the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics in RIT's College of Liberal Arts, 1988-98. Hopkins held senior management positions in two White House agencies during the Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations; in 1979 President Carter appointed him a charter member of the federal government's Senior Executive Service. In the early 1980s, he served as Deputy Administrator, Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, in the Office of Management & Budget. His research on business burdens of government regulation has been sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) in Paris and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington. He has testified on regulatory policy issues before committees of the U.S. Senate and House, and Canada's House of Commons. He co-authored a 2001 SBA report, "The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms," as well as National Research Council reports on marine transportation, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and trucking/rail/barge transportation. He previously was on the faculty of American University, University of Maryland, and Bowdoin College.
@don_mynack: Great. Get him to do a study on what the wars have cost us and how much was wasted and how much that has cost every taxpayer. Or the collapse of the financial institutions. Or Enron. Or all the others that have pilfered their way through the last decade at taxpayer expense. Or how much Halliburton has stolen from taxpayers. Spread that hate around a little.
Not dissimilar to the regular 'guidance' that companies release for investors. Everyone understands that they are spinning and trying to put the best possible face on this.
I guess GM wants a better share price now, rather than when they post unexpectedly positive results at their official quarterly announcement. #newgm
I'm _not_ an accountant, and I vommited a little as I read that.
I wonder if GM has any idea of the numbers of consumers they alientated as a result of their essentially being taken over by the government and UAW. My guess is, a lot. I know several people who have promised to never buy GM again. I can forgive GM the Citation, the Pontiac 1000, even the Chevette. But this, this will not be forgiven. #newgm
11/19/09
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Kind of like when you couldn't make rent right after you finished college, and scared your parents into lending you $1,500. But you didn't tell them that you spent $400 of this on concert tickets and beer, and when you paid them back $200 early it was just so that they'd forget about the remainder.
11/20/09
#tips
11/19/09
11/19/09
Let's assume that the profit on the materials can outpace the facility overhead cost, and break it down to where all losses are associated with personnel, both labor and administration.
Let us furthermore assume that the taxpayer funded loan was a gift, and that none of it will come back.
Then, let us assume that the funds remained within North America.
With approximately 112,000 employees in North America, 8.6 billion dollars works out to $76,785 per worker that the taxpayers have spent.
Fire them all, and give me back my money. All $30 of it ($8.6 billion divided by the current US population of 300 million is only $28.67; The $1.33 is interest)
11/19/09
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11/19/09
Also, faring, not fairing.
/grammarian
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Hopefully, GM will learn the lesson and not stagnate. Next time, the taxpayers won't be so willing to hand over billions on a silver platter.
But then again, this isn't exactly the first time, either. Do we, as a species, ever learn?
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I quit building when it became more expensive to build one than to just buy a workstation off eBay.
11/19/09
Thomas D. Hopkins is Professor of Economics at Rochester Institute of Technology. He served as Dean of the College of Business 1998-2005 and as President, U.S. Business School in Prague, Czech Republic, an RIT MBA program where he taught 1992-98. He was the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics in RIT's College of Liberal Arts, 1988-98. Hopkins held senior management positions in two White House agencies during the Ford, Carter and Reagan Administrations; in 1979 President Carter appointed him a charter member of the federal government's Senior Executive Service. In the early 1980s, he served as Deputy Administrator, Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs, in the Office of Management & Budget. His research on business burdens of government regulation has been sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) in Paris and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington. He has testified on regulatory policy issues before committees of the U.S. Senate and House, and Canada's House of Commons. He co-authored a 2001 SBA report, "The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms," as well as National Research Council reports on marine transportation, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and trucking/rail/barge transportation. He previously was on the faculty of American University, University of Maryland, and Bowdoin College.
Yeah, sounds like a total moron.
11/19/09
11/16/09
And to think of all the wasted years tossing out rebates to keep volume high. #newgm
11/16/09
This is the only GM-related corporate news I care about.
Where my money at, bitch? #newgm
11/16/09
I guess GM wants a better share price now, rather than when they post unexpectedly positive results at their official quarterly announcement. #newgm
11/16/09
I wonder if GM has any idea of the numbers of consumers they alientated as a result of their essentially being taken over by the government and UAW. My guess is, a lot. I know several people who have promised to never buy GM again. I can forgive GM the Citation, the Pontiac 1000, even the Chevette. But this, this will not be forgiven. #newgm
11/16/09
He speaks the truth. #newgm
11/16/09