This issue with General Motors has been ongoing for weeks now and seemingly the most obvious solution is similar to what banks and non-bank financial institutions received- a bailout. Today, the US Senate agreed on a $25billion loan to GM to save the company. The loudest argument against non-bailout is the spiral effect bankruptcy/failure has not only to GM but also to thousands of its suppliers who run the risk of similarly filing for bankruptcy if GM is allowed to fail. Following the huuuge job cuts pending the failure are the big sums of money that would certainly be needed to support the families of people who lose their jobs and to meet benefit obligations- health care, pensions, etc.
While I do admit and agree that GM’s, perhaps including Ford’s and Chrysler’s failures, pose some level of systemic risk, bailing them out (in the meantime) does not relieve them of the inefficiencies that currently exist in their systems. Receiving the bailout funds would only permit them to continuously fund their insanely quick cash burnout rate. For the 3rd quarter, GM used a whopping $6.9bn or $2.3bn a month while Ford reported the figure $7.2bn.