Loboc: The USA can survive just fine without manufacturing. American companies build product wherever it is most profitable to do so .
… Trying to force companies to keep jobs in the US is an (expensive) illusion.

The illusion is that there is such a thing as free trade in the world today. But so many people never read past the first chapter in their Econ 101 text book. In the real world, there are externalities and market failures. Protectionism and subsidies by foreign governments are the rule, not the exception. Our grossly lopsided trade deficit is the result. We delude ourselves by thinking that we can maintain our standard of living without producing something in return.

The way I see it, we have 3 choices:

1. Put tariffs on subsidized foreign goods (only to the point where the playing field is level; not to the point of protectionism).

2. Join the rest of the world and subsidize and protect our domestic industries (again, only to the point where the playing field is level).

3. Continue the “free trade” delusion until we are just another third-world consumer economy, with no manufacturing base and no middle class.

Go to some long, straight stretch of rural road. Bring the car up to 65 MPH.

Now floor it.

Count to three…

one thousand one

one thousand two

one thousand three

Now with the throttle still mashed to the floor, stop the car with the brakes. I’ll bet if you did that, you’d be surprised at the outcome. Until you do that test, I suggest not making any claims about the braking ability of a car under those conditions.

Short answer, applying brakes will allow you to slow down for a while — but not long.

Now that everyone is aware that their car may accelerate out of control, they won’t panic. At least most of them won’t. Darwin believes this may not be a bad thing.

Crookieda: Brakes in good condition will stop any car even under full acceleration. There’s more to the story.

BlackSun: Matthew B,I said “unless someone can prove brake malfunction….”I happen to own a Prius, and put it in neutral while driving yesterday. Works just fine. You have to hold the shift lever for a second or two, same with the ignition button.I’d like to see documentation on the “melted rotors.” Somehow I doubt it. Brakes in good condition will stop any car even under full acceleration. There’s more to the story.  

Thanks for backing up my other assertions by stating:

“You have to hold the shift lever for a second or two, same with the ignition button.”

Who would automatically know that you have to HOLD it in neutral for any period of time to get it to do something? Every vehicle I’ve ever owned responds to neutral instantly.

“Brakes in good condition will stop any car even under full acceleration.”
If you floor a car and hold it with the brakes at zero speed that is true.

From 80-90 MPH it is false for any higher power car. The extra energy from the engine will cause fade before you stop.

Red HHR: Good Question Tag, I will turn it around. Do you think the Volt would have survived without government intervention? If GM had collapsed where would the Volt be? Could some other manufacturer picked up the pieces, would it then be American? It may have been a simple union bailout, but some credit must be given.

I don’t think it’s a given that GM would have died without gubment intervention. They went bankrupt with intervention, and would have gone bankrupt earlier without it.

The question is if it would have been a liquidation or a restructuring. It easily could have still been a restructure, only the unions would have been left in the cold.

Oh, and if we’re giving out credit, you might as well throw some to George Bush. Had he not given away money, GM would have died in December ’08.