« Now is the Time for Choosing | Main | More Gun-Free Madness for the Law-Abiding in Aussie »

December 20, 2008

Ford 2006: Anticipating 2008 Job One?

 

 

Ford says no.

 

And we should all applaud it; indeed, all three automakers should do the patriotic thing and say no to any bailouts. In fact, aside from its ability to keep control over its own enterprise and some of the side effects of that, Ford may well enjoy a rich new harvest of small business and working customers who have found the GM/Chrysler sellout un-American, to say nothing of unfair.

 

Well and good.

 

But what did Ford know in 2006 that encouraged it to take out a loan on its assets so that it would have $24.5 bn in cold hard cash? Maybe it's nothing, but given the history of the company, it certainly is impressive.

 

Who do we know that anticipated a credit crisis or a serious economic slowdown back in 2006 and acted accordingly to weather the storm. What is the one thing GM and Chrysler are short of now? Cash in hand and the ability to go out and get a loan, favorable or unfavorable to change that. What information would be so actionable that a company would mortgage nearly all of its assets so that it had enough cash to make it through? That seems pretty shrewd, even for a fortune teller.

 

Of course, not to be wreckless, let me say also that if this is simply a case of some extremely prescient men running the auto company, then good for them. And good for us, as well. After all, we need to maintain some form of auto industry in this country for not only economic reasons but national security reasons also. However, anyone who is remotely a thinking person can't help but have his or her curiosity piqued just a little.

 

 

 

Posted by Martin at December 20, 2008 03:53 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogbat.us/mt/mt-tb.cgi/767

Comments

Post a comment




Remember Me?