I want to take a small detour from the usual content and talk about the auto bailout that has been in the news. I have really mixed feelings about this bailout. On one hand I understand that there are indeed some jobs at stake but on the other hand, I really hate that nobody is talking about how these companies should have seen it coming.

Lets take GM as an example. A couple years ago they released all new SUV’s and trucks as well as the Acadia crossover (one of the heaviest ever produced) at a time when gas prices were clearly on the rise. Of course, in a classic case of brand engineering all of the GM divisions released their own versions of each. Since then we’ve seen little to nothing in the way of affordable, efficient cars that can compete with what other companies are producing. GM for too long has concentrated on the once lucrative SUV business and their smaller cars are suffering. Meanwhile companies like Toyota, Honda and even Kia (owned by Hyundai) are surviving just fine in the the current economic situation.