When GM was on its last two weeks
of funds, the UAW demanded that the
President, or the Federal Reserve, give
GM the money they needed to maintain
GM's unprofitable wage agreements.

Because continuing subsidy to the
union workers is unsustainable, business
characterizes the unions as evil, the
leaders as crooks and the politicians as
weak.

Does this have a familiar ring - like
the acquisitions by the President about
companies taking unreasonable bonuses,
having evil intent and flouting the laws
of our country?

Both groups see the others as evil and in
conspiracy to get more than their share.

While engaged in dealing with the
supposed evil at home we are not
adequately dealing with the overseas
competition. Rather than forcing our
businesses to expand activities that are

not competitive in the world market,
we should be encouraging innovation
in new fields and allowing wages to go
down where we have not adjusted to
world technology. At the same time we
need to allow wages to go up where new
technology supports them.

Just as companies that are out of date
need to pass away, so unions that do not
adjust working conditions and wages to
the market need to pass away. Americans
are generally not evil as accused or
conspiring to "get" their opposites. They
are trying to be successful - in the spirit
of a sports team. We don't attribute
evil intentions to athletes, although
they may at times be unsportsmanlike.
So, in business both parties can get
unsportsmanlike and result in serious
harm to the others and our country.

We also wonder about the future of our
country as we support many elements of
our economy with huge subsidies. Can
we support non-competitive industries,
debtors who cannot afford their loans,
and the world's needy?

A banker friend advised me that if we
followed Sweden's example and had
the government take over all house
and business loans that were in default
and write them down to market, we
could proceed with business as usual.
There would be no overhanging debt to
constrain spending on new assets. Does
this socialist solution have problems for
our way of life? What does this do to
our economy and to our work ethic that
has made this a great country.

What do you think?