When General Motors went Bankrupt

Americans did not believe this could happen. How could the biggest and most important company in America, go belly-up? But went broke anyway.

It applied for a bailout, and got one - too many GM workers, were out of work. But the Feds were smart - in return for their money, they got most of GM stock. And when you own most of the stock of a company,- you own the company!

As it worked out, the Feds made money on the deal - because GM started making money. How did they do that? They started making small cars.

American car companies always made BIG cars - expensive to buy and expensive to own (they used a lot of gas). This fit in with America's self-image - Americans had big houses, and they had big cars also.

Our parents generation liked this bigness. My father always owned a big new car - not the very newest - he thought that was going too far, but one that was fairly new.

But my generation, especially the ones who went to college, were not that interested in cars - no matter what kind they were, and actually preferred older ones - as long as they were in good running order. A car was for transportation, not for display. Although no one knew this at the time - they were the dominant buyers.

There was a big market for small cars in other countries, as well. I frequently see Chevy subcompacts down here in Costa Rica.