Financial Meltdown Worse to Come, More Bailouts Needed!
Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis Bailouts
Nov 07, 2008 - 05:02 AM

By: David_Vaughn

The morning after the election I went to my favorite coffee shop in town.

The sign and windows were covered up. They had just officially closed that morning due to bankruptcy. A chain of over three stores and some of their site locations were virtual money machines because they were so busy. And the ultimate bankruptcy is the personal bankruptcy of the owner of the chain. This man was one of the most prominent and wealthy citizens in town. Owned a bunch of other previously successful businesses. Now bankrupt. Too much debt that he could no longer sustain especially due to the present financial meltdown. Where was our government to bail this fellow out in his direst need?

Are you happy to see the government bailouts?

I know I am. It's about time the government recognized the importance of industries that are suffering & need billions of dollars to sustain their business. Where were the government bailouts when so many other worthy industries in the past were dying and struggling for their very existence?

Where were the government bailouts when the horse and buggy industry was fighting to keep up with the newly invented automobile? Where were the bailouts when the US textile industry all went east and west and every other direction but home? To my understanding, today, there is not one shirt manufactured from scratch in the US .

Remember the prosperous whaling industry just a century ago? Whales provided the oil for every lamp in every home and business. The whaling industry employed over 70,000 people. Those were real jobs, but the government refused to prop up the industry and today not a single lamp uses whale oil to light the night sky.

Look at the print industry. The newspaper and magazine are going the way of the dinosaur. Replaced by digital print. And who is there to care? And what happened to typewriters and Smith Corona? Smith Corona was a staple name just 30 years ago.

“…finance executives in challenged industries are in a precarious position. Publicly, they must tout their companies' commitment to innovation and long-term goals. Yet instead of investing in new technology, they can become enamored of their current business model—especially if it is successful. And their unrelenting focus on shareholder value can blind them to the fact that they may be facing a Waterloo moment.â€