Comments on: How GM Became Uncle Sam’s Bitch http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/ Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Geopolitics, Technology, and Digital Media Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:17:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: farmera1 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158560 farmera1 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:32:26 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158560 Nice talk about bitches and all that. I think the old saying that fits best goes something like this: HE who has the gold makes the rules Whether it be US making the rules for GM, China making the rules for the US or the US making the rules for the last century or so. It always has been so, so be it. Nice talk about bitches and all that. I think the old saying that fits best goes something like this:

HE who has the gold makes the rules

Whether it be US making the rules for GM, China making the rules for the US or the US making the rules for the last century or so. It always has been so, so be it.

]]> By: Weevie http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158556 Weevie Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:16:49 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158556 The banks are big mean heavy needy bitches. GM was a scrawny pushover bitch. With GM's issues, the public reaction is just not buy GM vehicles (where they might have before the bitch got in trouble). But with the big mean heavy needy bank bitches, if the public gets the idea that their money is not safe, the reaction will be bank runs on a scale that we have not seen before in history. Credit Anstalt will look like a wee tiny little bitch. The government is walking on much thinner ice with these big heavy bank bitches than with the comparatively scrawny GM bitch. So if the government is planning to discipline the bank bitches, it has to spring a huge complicated confidence building plan on all of them in a comprehensive coordinated way. Takes time to plan that and get all your bank CEOs, boards, bondholders and shareholders lined up in a row for the mass guillotining. You need to look to Machiavelli and/or Sun Tzu for what they would do when faced with so many powerful enemies. No sense telegraphing your intentions to your enemies before you (figuratively) kill all of them in a planned, coordinated orgy of violence. The banks are big mean heavy needy bitches. GM was a scrawny pushover bitch. With GM’s issues, the public reaction is just not buy GM vehicles (where they might have before the bitch got in trouble). But with the big mean heavy needy bank bitches, if the public gets the idea that their money is not safe, the reaction will be bank runs on a scale that we have not seen before in history. Credit Anstalt will look like a wee tiny little bitch. The government is walking on much thinner ice with these big heavy bank bitches than with the comparatively scrawny GM bitch. So if the government is planning to discipline the bank bitches, it has to spring a huge complicated confidence building plan on all of them in a comprehensive coordinated way. Takes time to plan that and get all your bank CEOs, boards, bondholders and shareholders lined up in a row for the mass guillotining. You need to look to Machiavelli and/or Sun Tzu for what they would do when faced with so many powerful enemies. No sense telegraphing your intentions to your enemies before you (figuratively) kill all of them in a planned, coordinated orgy of violence.

]]> By: FrancoisT http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158501 FrancoisT Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:44:23 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158501 "As soon as you become dependent upon the biggest guy in the cell block for protection, you become his bitch." OK Barry! I get that and it makes perfect sense. However, since the gubmint (Treasury) keeps on paying "protection" on what looks, smells and walks like an extortion racket, must we conclude that the US is the Banks's bitch? “As soon as you become dependent upon the biggest guy in the cell block for protection, you become his bitch.”

OK Barry! I get that and it makes perfect sense.

However, since the gubmint (Treasury) keeps on paying “protection” on what looks, smells and walks like an extortion racket, must we conclude that the US is the Banks’s bitch?

]]> By: AU http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158484 AU Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:26:14 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158484 Really surprised to see that Americans people still don't get it. O is the same, infact worse. See the disconnect between his rhetoric and actions. See the appointments he has made since taking office. It is full of bankers, publicists for bankers - Goldman et al, tax evaders, people who brought about the crisis. How will he do anything different? He belongs to the same group. It is not as if he is being forced to rescue banks and leave GM. He is doing it out of his own choice. I dread to imagine what the situation in America would be in by the time he is done. It is not as if I have any sympathy for GM or Wagner. They got what they deserved. But this contradictory treatment confirms my fears. America is becoming more and more like developing countries, in some cases even worse - only difference is Americans, despite all their education are dumber. Don't get me wrong, it is a matter of experience. We, in the emerging markets and developing world have been fooled by corrupt politicians and their rhetoric so many times that at least the well-read people who can think on their own, can easily get it. How did you people even hope for a a one man miracle. It doesn't happen in the real world. People around him have to become better before some positive change can occur. Remember the way he was laughing at people's problems in a recent interview. Really surprised to see that Americans people still don’t get it. O is the same, infact worse. See the disconnect between his rhetoric and actions. See the appointments he has made since taking office. It is full of bankers, publicists for bankers – Goldman et al, tax evaders, people who brought about the crisis. How will he do anything different? He belongs to the same group. It is not as if he is being forced to rescue banks and leave GM. He is doing it out of his own choice. I dread to imagine what the situation in America would be in by the time he is done. It is not as if I have any sympathy for GM or Wagner. They got what they deserved. But this contradictory treatment confirms my fears.

America is becoming more and more like developing countries, in some cases even worse – only difference is Americans, despite all their education are dumber. Don’t get me wrong, it is a matter of experience. We, in the emerging markets and developing world have been fooled by corrupt politicians and their rhetoric so many times that at least the well-read people who can think on their own, can easily get it. How did you people even hope for a a one man miracle. It doesn’t happen in the real world. People around him have to become better before some positive change can occur.

Remember the way he was laughing at people’s problems in a recent interview.

]]> By: dunnage http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158456 dunnage Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:38:12 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158456 Goldman Sachs, MS, and Chase chose GM for Sam. Guess who we got? Goldman Sachs, MS, and Chase chose GM for Sam. Guess who we got?

]]> By: bman http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158444 bman Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:09:25 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158444 @johnweaslemeister: Get a grip, the unions, omfg you are complaining about the unions? this is not a political blog, Nor is it a back to the future blog, if you have a problem with the unions, go take it back to the 70's or so, and talk to Jimmy Hoffa about it. The cold hard facts of the matter is the unions accepted some ungodly consession these last few years, while conversely the financials tooks some major bonuses. The auto makers kept making cars when their customer base was uncertain, but the banks stopped lending when their customer base was in need. @johnweaslemeister: Get a grip, the unions, omfg you are complaining about the unions? this is not a political blog, Nor is it a back to the future blog, if you have a problem with the unions, go take it back to the 70′s or so, and talk to Jimmy Hoffa about it. The cold hard facts of the matter is the unions accepted some ungodly consession these last few years, while conversely the financials tooks some major bonuses.
The auto makers kept making cars when their customer base was uncertain, but the banks stopped lending when their customer base was in need.

]]> By: Avl Dao http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158442 Avl Dao Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:56:50 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158442 Mark E.H: I admire your tenacity on a point that is crucial and, I suspect as with the Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle – reveals much about those who cling to some variant of "Global Banking Is Too Hard To Understand" or worse, "Our 'Best' & 'Brightest" were in banking ...” blah blah. There was no choke-hold on the mythical ‘best & brightest’ by the banking sector, certainly not measured by long-term performance. Concocting a Bitch's...oops, a Witch's Brew of failed failed failed instruments does not ipso facto mean that “it's too hard to understand”. I can toss together a bunch of enzymes and chemicals in a beaker that fail to do anything beyond generate smoke and odors; would one complain that my ‘life-in-a-test tube’ was ‘too hard to understand’ or would one dismiss it since it never ‘lived’ anyway but rather produced only smoke and nauseous odors? I think the typical response would be dismissal. All we need to ‘understand’ is that whatever the so-called 'best' & brightest concocted failed. And the longer we put up with allowing Team Obama to keep these overpaid cauldron-sniffers in place in our failed banks, the more we play Russian Roulette with our nation. The banking system can be regressed to its former state, pre uber-regulation, and distilled into a boring plain vanilla sector like it was from 1945 til de-reg started. As Krugman noted, there was not a financial institution in the Dow30 until 1982 (or was 84?). Shrinking banking also shrinks the possibility of serial bubble-blowing and hyper-wealth segmentation. And that is the ‘Ah-Hah!’ moment: A plain vanilla banking system cuts off at the knees the possibility of intense wealth concentration; that is the likely reason such a move is consciously resisted by Team Obama & Congress, MSM, and the GOP. And 'unconsciously' resisted by peddlers of the 'banking is too complex to fix' myths. Add FT’s brilliant Gillian Tett to the chorus that slyly champions plain vanilla banking: Banking Success Amid The Baked Beans By Gillian Tett Financial Times March 30 Mark E.H:
I admire your tenacity on a point that is crucial and, I suspect as with the Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle – reveals much about those who cling to some variant of “Global Banking Is Too Hard To Understand” or worse, “Our ‘Best’ & ‘Brightest” were in banking …” blah blah.
There was no choke-hold on the mythical ‘best & brightest’ by the banking sector, certainly not measured by long-term performance. Concocting a Bitch’s…oops, a Witch’s Brew of failed failed failed instruments does not ipso facto mean that “it’s too hard to understand”. I can toss together a bunch of enzymes and chemicals in a beaker that fail to do anything beyond generate smoke and odors; would one complain that my ‘life-in-a-test tube’ was ‘too hard to understand’ or would one dismiss it since it never ‘lived’ anyway but rather produced only smoke and nauseous odors? I think the typical response would be dismissal.

All we need to ‘understand’ is that whatever the so-called ‘best’ & brightest concocted failed.
And the longer we put up with allowing Team Obama to keep these overpaid cauldron-sniffers in place in our failed banks, the more we play Russian Roulette with our nation.

The banking system can be regressed to its former state, pre uber-regulation, and distilled into a boring plain vanilla sector like it was from 1945 til de-reg started. As Krugman noted, there was not a financial institution in the Dow30 until 1982 (or was 84?).
Shrinking banking also shrinks the possibility of serial bubble-blowing and hyper-wealth segmentation.
And that is the ‘Ah-Hah!’ moment:
A plain vanilla banking system cuts off at the knees the possibility of intense wealth concentration; that is the likely reason such a move is consciously resisted by Team Obama & Congress, MSM, and the GOP. And ‘unconsciously’ resisted by peddlers of the ‘banking is too complex to fix’ myths.

Add FT’s brilliant Gillian Tett to the chorus that slyly champions plain vanilla banking:
Banking Success Amid The Baked Beans
By Gillian Tett Financial Times March 30

]]> By: JoWriter http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158416 JoWriter Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:31:14 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158416 @ Brown Ram - that's an awful lot of words to say, "they have a bomb strapped to their chest." @ Brown Ram – that’s an awful lot of words to say, “they have a bomb strapped to their chest.”

]]> By: Mark E Hoffer http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158411 Mark E Hoffer Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:16:12 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158411 Brown, I hear the points you are laying out. They All apply to the Auto-Industry. As I said before, and, really, no offence meant, your POV is warped, probaly by deign of location of your seat. 'Banking', much to the dismay of 'Bankers' is no different than MCD--both have a product to sell. the whole 'internation'-tangle, 'trust', 'can't value for not able to predict the future' line of BS, is not, only, applicable to 'banks'.. They need to get over themselves, and we need to get over them--we are, writ large, suffering from Battered-Wife Syndrome.. Simon, good point, it's a big reason 'Net Neutrality', 'Secure Computing', and 'Internet2' are already cooked up, waiting to be served.. Brown,

I hear the points you are laying out. They All apply to the Auto-Industry.

As I said before, and, really, no offence meant, your POV is warped, probaly by deign of location of your seat.

‘Banking’, much to the dismay of ‘Bankers’ is no different than MCD–both have a product to sell.

the whole ‘internation’-tangle, ‘trust’, ‘can’t value for not able to predict the future’ line of BS, is not, only, applicable to ‘banks’..

They need to get over themselves, and we need to get over them–we are, writ large, suffering from Battered-Wife Syndrome..

Simon,

good point, it’s a big reason ‘Net Neutrality’, ‘Secure Computing’, and ‘Internet2′ are already cooked up, waiting to be served..

]]> By: Simon http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/how-gm-became-uncle-sams-bitch/comment-page-2/#comment-158391 Simon Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:29:46 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=22872#comment-158391 I think banks have relied too much upon information asymmetry. The inter net has made information far more democratic and allows anyone interested to participate in the discussion. The curtain can not help but be drawn back on what ever and who ever is to be found. Any institution relying on cognitave capture of all involved parties will ultimately fail and possibly much sooner than they though possible. I think banks have relied too much upon information asymmetry. The inter net has made information far more democratic and allows anyone interested to participate in the discussion. The curtain can not help but be drawn back on what ever and who ever is to be found. Any institution relying on cognitave capture of all involved parties will ultimately fail and possibly much sooner than they though possible.

]]>