Opel is dying and the heads of BMW and Daimler would like the German state to keep its hands out of the process.
Libertarianism is a concept very, very alien to the average European mind. We live in overbearing, motherly states with massive taxes and social cushions but the Carpocalypse is bringing out the inner Ron Paul in Dr. Z.
The Financial Times quotes the Daimler head: “Every industry needs structural development and this is not something that should be influenced in the long term by governments.” BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer comes with the kontrapunkt: “I have an understanding when it is about banks because they are central elements of an economy. But for the rest, where do you start and…stop?”
It is entertaining to consider a version of the truth where these two car magnates are not afraid of the integrity of their own pockets, as is probably the case here. But where Doctors Z and R harbor fantasies of a pre-Bismarck Germany of independent fiefdoms, a Snow Crash wonderland of franchised cities instead of tiny kingdoms.
Where the rulers of Mstadt and AMGville watch with a stony face as the poor everymen of Rüsselsheim scatter to the winds.
Photo Credit: public.resource.org, slobug