The decision by the Rudd and Rann governments to subsidise Toyota to build hybrid cars in Australia is a stupid one. We have just seen Mitsubishi run out of the automotive manufacturing business even with subsidies and unless there is a strong export market for the hybrid Camry then it will be the same for Toyota. This is bad policy.
I do not know why the automotive industry is seen as a such a necessary one for political patronage. It is not a large industry, there are certainly larger ones if the politicians want to buy votes, plus it is a shrinking and unprofitable one in many instances. Additionally parochial and nativist pride is diminishing in this area. Even so, bad policy remains bad policy.
Tim Dunlop makes the point that private capital investment is best suited to these decisions on market and economic grounds; a government is woefully inefficient in this area and remarks;
Is public money best spent on subsidizing private businesses in the way of the Toyota deal, or would the money be better spent on things where governments can really make a difference--public transport--and where no-one else is going to step into the breach?
I agree. There is the argument that capital intensive public transport such as light rail is middle class welfare, and that buses are not only cheaper but have greater utility in public transport delivery, however; it is not like there isn't a tonne of middle class welfare already, and long haul public transport from the suburbs and exburbs do aid in commuter choice.
From
Obama's press conference:
The news coming out of the auto industry this week reminds us of the hardship it faces, hardship that goes far beyond individual auto companies to the countless suppliers, small businesses and communities throughout our nation who depend on a vibrant American auto industry.
The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
I don't know why the auto-industry gets so much in the way of subsidies. Manufacturing is a declining sector. In the US manufacturing jobs made up 25% of the labor workforce, now,
it is under 10%. To add to that, a good chunk of a manufacturing firm's labor is service industry and information workers.
There are political issues. Auto firms tend to be heavily capitalized, and as a consequence, huge in economic size with well organized lobbyists. There is also a nationalistic style of idealism, in much the same way there is with Naval production. Possibly the "what is good for GM is good for America" line of thinking. But that doesn't really explain the Australian subsidies for Ford and Mitsubishi.
It looks like the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress will continue to allow the American auto-industry to get fat at the trough of public money.
Kicking Tires has
an interesting run down of inventory for the remaining Pontiacs:
Pontiac G3: 617 days of inventory
Pontiac G5: 443 days of inventory
Pontiac G6: 83 days of inventory
Pontiac G8: 92 days of inventory
Pontiac Solstice: 276 days of inventory
Pontiac Vibe: 149 days of inventory
Pontiac Torrent: 99 days of inventory
Considering that Pontiac is being killed for 2010 several of the plants making those cars will probably be stopping manufacturing right now. It is also probably why Holden is concerned and trying to do deals to get the Commodore imported to the US as
a Police Car or as
a Chevy or
Buick/GMC.
Holden pretty well got screwed by being matched up to Pontiac, then again Opel cannot be too happy about having their fortunes tied to Saturn either. Both were damaged brands that were on the verge of failure. Chevrolet and Cadillac are the only invigorated brands in the US for General Motors.
Most Popular on South Sea Republic
The articles that have been viewed the most:
Most Popular Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Most Popular Hikes in Arizona
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Alternate Australian Constitutions
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
Archives For South Sea Republic
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
Who Is Cam Riley
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
Websites Worth Reading
Websites of friends, colleagues and of interest;
