

The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M.  - blogimus
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01deese.html

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ajju
Obama's press operation is flawless. Every single junior official who is
leading anything of import gets a profile article in a major leading newspaper
full of quotes from senior officials praising him.

I supported Obama, but I'll wait till I see some results before buying into
all the hoopla about his oh-so-smart group of govt. officials.

~~~
Retric
I think the press likes the Obama administration the same way they liked the
Bush administration at the start. I still don't see how they go from the
facts:

"While far more prominent members of the administration are making the big
decisions about Detroit,"

To this headline:

"The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M."

~~~
randallsquared
_I think the press likes the Obama administration the same way they liked the
Bush administration at the start._

Yes, indeed. The press is generally favorable to the group in power, at least
since Reagan (I don't remember much before him). Even when much of the press
was anti-Bush, much of what they reported toed the administration line. It's
easy; it's good for the career -- why _wouldn't_ they be pro-power?

~~~
jpwagner
Dude, the press hated Reagan, disliked Bush, and loathed George W. Bush...

~~~
krschultz
Easy to think that looking from 2009 backwards, but at this point in his
administration he was just as fawned over from the media as Obama is today.

~~~
jpwagner
[http://books.google.com/books?id=9L9qIIuj4WMC&dq=bias+bo...](http://books.google.com/books?id=9L9qIIuj4WMC&dq=bias+book&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=914kSqinGJHitQPAm9GABA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4)

~~~
jpwagner
but evidence doesn't always cut it with emotional debates now does it...

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ckinnan
He's a political campaign staffer with no business experience whatsoever.

~~~
bena
However, it was the people with decades of business experience that got us
where we are today. So, exactly what good is this experience that everyone
needs it.

~~~
absconditus
Just as in any other field, there are those with experience that are good at
their jobs and those that are bad at them. This does not mean that someone
with no experience should be hired to do the job.

~~~
olefoo
In this case though, the job to be done is one that noone has experience
doing. Putting an operation like GM into receivership is unprecedented.

And expecting experience in the face of unprecedented events that require
restructuring the old order is somewhat counterproductive. You do not want
someone who is determined to save certain features of the old order merely
because that is what they understand; what is needed is someone who is
comfortable mediating the different forces at work and discovering workable
approximations of the new order that minimise the damage overall.

~~~
krschultz
Really? GM is not the largest company to ever have gone bankrupt in this
country. Many of the railroads were larger when they went under.

~~~
kqr2
According to this article, GM is the largest _industrial_ company to go
bankrupt in the US:

<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6451802.html>

Overall, it is only the 4th largest bankruptcy in the US.

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prpon
The obvious: auto industry needs revamping. The not so obvious: How do we get
there, in what time line and with how much pain?

I don't care if you are 31 or 61. Hope these NYT profiles are not just resume
builders for these people. I truly hope these people make wise choices when
there are so many lives depending on the industry.

~~~
jdminhbg
"The obvious: auto industry needs revamping."

What's obvious about that? Many auto companies are doing just fine. Why would
Toyota need revamping?

~~~
jhancock
Even Toyota is not doing fine. They make good cars at a good price but that
does not mean their market capitalization and spending has been/is in line
with what the next few years may hold. If it was, they would not have had to
take a loss this past year.

~~~
pyr3
Well, Japanese companies also has to contend with the deflation of their
currency.

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blhack
NYT's registration wall is infuriating.

Here is a working link:

[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.nytimes.c...](http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01deese.html&sl=nl&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)

~~~
uuilly
NYT does not require a log in for google news referrals. Search the article
name on google news and go from there.

~~~
blhack
That is what I did. I just wanted to share with everybody so that they didn't
have to do the same.

I'm apologize if the link isn't working for some people, I was just trying to
help out.

