If you look closely at the way the auto bailout is being managed, it appears that one of the major results will be that American taxpayers’ money will be used to move automotive jobs away from America, into low-wage foreign nations. This is what happens when a bailout is treated like an investment banking problem, not a business-rebuilding or job-creating program. A taxpayer bailout should not move jobs from the Midwest to low-wage nations.
This bears watching, and if this plays out, it bears opposing, especially in the case of General Motors, where this danger is the most severe. With oil rising again toward $60 per barrel and far higher with economic recovery, the priority of fuel efficiency should rise to the top, but in most cases, has not.
Let’s give Ford credit. Ford has not taken bailout money. Ford has forged ahead with the electric car. And Ford stock has moved up dramatically while GM collapsed and Chrysler went bankrupt.
Let’s be clear. No more bailouts where banks take the money but refuse to lend, raise credit card interest rates, increase bank fees, and do everything the bailout was designed to prevent and stop.
We should give support to the auto companies to make better cars, improve design, raise fuel efficiency and march toward electric cars, especially with oil marching back upward again.
But: Let’s look at these programs carefully. No bailout for jobs in low-wage countries. Enough is enough. We should say this stops here and now. If we do it, we must do it right this time, and not use taxpayers’ money to outsource American jobs or American wealth.