this may seem obvious and perhaps it's simply a corollary to Occam's Razor, but things that logically should happen, almost always do happen.
when Obama said, "I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it," he was obviously wrong. as has been pointed out numerous times, it was Karl Benz of Germany who invented the internal combustion engine and built the first automobile. but more importantly, even if the US did invent the automobile, is there any reason to keep an auto industry alive in this country?
first of all, it's clear that cars as we've known them for the last 100 years will change dramatically in the next 10. the internal combustion engine will be fazed out entirely except perhaps in super large trucks.
the nation that also invented the typewriter (Christopher Sholes in 1865 in Wisconsin) walked away from it (typewriters are no longer manufactured in any quantity in the US). and we will certainly walk away from the auto industry as we know it too.
the US also invented sneakers (or at least the waffle outsole that is standard on all athletic shoes) and yet almost all of nike's factories are overseas, in particular in asia. the factories are there because it is economical to for them to be there.
if it is not economical for there to be a car factory in the US, then there will not be a car factory in the US. the US government can delay the inevitable, but things that should happen eventually do happen.
so, GM will go bankrupt. likely the company will continue to exist in some form but relatively quickly, if wages remain high the US (and i hope they do), all car manufacturing will be moved offshore.
and while we're at it, another thing that makes logical sense and so eventually will happen is GE will file chapter 11 and/or they will split the company up isolating the disastrous finance division.
