Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Noted...
General Motors will start paying back taxpayers' money -- with taxpayers' money.
The New York Times tells us:
Stiglitz versus Stiglitz. Watching Nobelists argue versus themselves is always fun. But Stiglitz has a special knack for savagely criticizing the positions he'd taken with his former associates while apparently forgetting that the were positions he'd taken with his former associates -- earning from his former associates special letters of appreciation, such as ... and.
From David Warsh, interesting backstory on international advisers "doing well by doing good" while helping develop foreign economies ... sometimes doing very well indeed.
Obama was against using legal compulsion to force people to buy health insurance before he was for it.
The New York Times tells us:
G.M. said Monday that while it was still losing money [a mere $1.2 billion in the third quarter -- an amount not mentioned until the story's 11th graf] it had stabilized enough that it could take an important symbolic step and begin returning some of the $50 billion that the federal government provided to help give it a second chance.Of course, what else could the administration say? But what does a bankrupt business that's still losing billions after being bailed out with taxpayers' money use to pay back a debt? Mickey Kaus expands:
The Obama administration said it was “encouraged” by G.M.’s initial performance since emerging from bankruptcy in July...
When GM says 'Here's your money back,' they really mean it!
GM "says it will begin to pay back U.S. loans." But of course it's paying back that debt to taxpayers with money from ... taxpayers. Even the new, nicer Truth About Cars isn't falling for it. GM got $50 billion from the government, after all, mainly for a 60% share in the company. It's planning to pay back $1.2 billion in December -- basically a PR attempt, TTAC speculates, to erase its negative consumer image as a bailout baby. The only hope for the taxpayers actually being repaid for their entire $50B investment is an IPO...
P.S.: Also, these financial results are not GAAP-ready. "North American Operations are still bleeding cash. And, as Henderson has admitted, the fourth quarter results for 2009 are only going to bring worse news."...
Stiglitz versus Stiglitz. Watching Nobelists argue versus themselves is always fun. But Stiglitz has a special knack for savagely criticizing the positions he'd taken with his former associates while apparently forgetting that the were positions he'd taken with his former associates -- earning from his former associates special letters of appreciation, such as ... and.
From David Warsh, interesting backstory on international advisers "doing well by doing good" while helping develop foreign economies ... sometimes doing very well indeed.
Obama was against using legal compulsion to force people to buy health insurance before he was for it.
