Willa Cather, Alfred Sloan, Charles Kettering & the Detroit 3
“All life is lived in that interval between memory and desire.”
Stayed-up to watch replay of the Senate hearings for the automotive bailout. I cheered for the candor of Ron Gettlefinger, President of the Auto Workers Union. The CEOs of Ford, Detroit and Chrysler projected the credibility of, well, used-car salesmen. A sad and saddening spectacle of the once proud engines of our economy, now with a combined market capitalization equal to about 25% of the cash that Apple has on hand, politely threatening the country with a contribution to the financial mess unless we provide $30 billion in hand-outs to forestall briefly their inevitable demise. A long way from the business model innovations of Alfred Sloan and the technical innovations of Charles Kettering.
