Detroit, GM, and the Final Four
Posted by LK on 3/30/09 • Categorized as Culture War, Sports, The Economy and Markets, Two Americas
The ironic juxtaposition of GM and Chrysler going through their death throes in the same town that’s about to host college basketball’s Final Four, one of the most garish, opulent, and escapist spectacles in sports, boggles, and troubles, the mind.
There’s a kind of cognitive dissonance that results in a headache at best, and a heartache at worst, when one thinks of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed auto workers licking their wounds alongside the partying corporate and sports honchos.
Yes, there’s a positive side to this, as millions of dollars in commerce is coming to Detroit, an area starved for both commercial revenue and sales tax from that revenue. And the locals will embrace the temporary bump, while gritting their teeth knowing that it’s too fleeting to make a substantial and long lasting difference in their lives.
Michigan State earning it’s way to the Final Four also presents a study in contrasts with the likes of the auto executives who let the world, particularly the Japanese and Koreans, pass them by while they themselves crawled along in the slow lane, either devoid of innovative ideas or enacting them at a snail’s pace.
Had Michigan State lost, they’d be out, headed home, essentially fired. Their appearance at the big dance is a shining example of pure capitalism, survival of the fittest, at its best. The fact that it took 8 years and the government to get rid of Rick Wagoner as the head of GM is capitalism at its worst. Cronyism trumping creativity. Government intervention instead of free market forces running the show.
Michigan State is my sentimental favorite next weekend. It’d be nice to bring Motown’s residents a tiny sliver of joy in the midst of their troubles.
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LK,<you un-American fool! How dare you compare the glorious mind-freeze of college basketball to governmental impotence! Don’t you get it? Without college basketball, there would be no NBA. Without the NBA, there would be nobody to buy Escalades. Once the Escalade is no longer in demand, GM is over. And since the Escalade is primarily constructed from Japanese and Korean parts, well… put it together!!
You need to start thinking more gooder before spewing your anti-sports, uber-drama to us real Americans who eat the cheese of numb just to stay sane. And don’t even THINK about attacking NASCAR!
ah Falcon, so refreshing to have you back. your unique left and right brain interaction always astounds me. if only the purchases made by professional athletes could save the jobs of millions of Americans, but alas, tis not the case.
thanks for checking in. stay in touch. LK
We can’t over tax wealthy athletes – what incentive would they have to win? Really, if we raised the marginal tax rate on incomes over a million to 50%, do you really think athletes would hustle and drive the lane?
And you would kill innovation! Increasing marginal tax rates would stifle any entrepreneurial spirit. Do you think the slam dunk and the pick and roll would have been invented if Pro Athletes were taxed more than 36% on their second and third millions?
Come on, the only way to save the economy, oops, sorry, pro sports, is to deregulate and lower taxes on the wealthiest athletes.
Ahhhh… to make millions and have an effective tax rate lower than working mom’s…
i think if the tax rate is raised on NBZ players their exertion would take place in only the last 2 minutes rather than the last 5 minutes of regular season games, as is currently the case.
stay in touch. LK