Posted on 11/26/2010 8:40:44 AM PST by Sherman Logan
I used to wake up in the middle of the night, here in Istanbul, wondering how Id pay my bills. As Ive noted in City Journal, the demand for foreign news is shrinking. The wire services provide coverage from Turkey at low operating costs. To be honest, I also spend a lot of money on things I cant afford, like my cleaning lady. Shes been working for me for five years and has three kids, so I cant fire her. If I go down, shell go down, and so will my landlord, the guy who sells cleaning supplies to my cleaning lady, and the Iranian refugee who does my odd jobs. The ripple effect on the local economy, in other words, would be calamitous.
Then I saw the great news about GMs success and I stopped worrying. Because GM and I are in the same position, and things seem to be working out splendidly for them.
You see, about a month ago, I asked my mother to bail me out. I knew shed do it. Shes done it before. She sent me money shes been saving toward my retirement. I resolved to stop spending money on stupid things. (There was really no excuse for that lamp, Mom, I know. Sorry! In my defense, I was sure there was a genie in it.)
With my mom paying my rent, Ive been able to charge less for what I write and stay in the black. Voilà, Im selling a cheaper product (for now) than Reuters and AP. That will teach them where to stuff their good investment decisions and their economies of scale. I fired the guy who does my odd jobsit was painful, but it had to be done. So, congratulations to me! Im making it in this tough business climate, with a little help from Mom. Americas back! And if Im broke again in a year, Ill hit her up again. (Dont forget, Mom, that you really have no choice: no matter what you do, Im still going to be a huge financial drag on you. If I fail, Ill end up coming home with all my cats. You dont want me sleeping on your couch, do you? And you sure dont want to see what my cats would do to that couch. Antique, I believe it is?)
All of this is, alas, a perfectly accurate description of my financial life. The reader may wonder about my moms wisdom in going along with this plan. Thats between me and hershe loves me, and its her money, not yours. The money that went to GM was yours, however. And I suppose you must love GM as if its your profligate kid, because surely you could not be so credulous as to believe these reports about the spectacular success of the bailout.
There was a rush to buy GM shares last Thursday, when the company, which emerged from bankruptcy restructuring last summer, held an IPO. The company has been drowned in taxpayer cash. Its going to be fine in the short term. No one should be surprised by this. Anyoneand any companycan get back in the black in the short term if someone gives it a ton of money. And who wouldnt want to invest in a company that everyone knows wont be allowed to go down? All the merchants in my neighborhood would lend me money, too, if I asked, confident that their loan would be repaid. A generous American mom sounds pretty good to them.
Of course, GM is paying back its new loans, though this doesnt help investors who hold old GM stock; thats worthless. By the way, Im also considering stiffing my creditors. The GM example proves that it will result in an immediate improvement of my balance sheet. GMs production numbers have been increasing, and mine have, too: its a lot easier to write when youve got peace of mind. Whether anyone will buy the stuff Im writing, God knows, but my word count is definitely up, and that, apparently, is the number that matters.
Note that GM is still producing those gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs that no one seemed to want before. Great news for me: Ill just keep writing about the arcana of Turkish constitutional politics. Its what the market should want. Turkish politics are fascinating. I dont know whats wrong with Americans. If they understood what was good for them, theyd want to be better informed about Turkey. (Theyd want that Volt electric car, too. I hear its much better for the environment.)
Naturally, Ill pay my mother back. Heres how: Im going to have her put a small percentage of all the money shes given me in an escrow account, which Ill call a working capital account. Then Ill transfer the rest of my assets to her. (Good news, Mom: you own seven cats and seven litter boxes.) Then Im going to use the money from that escrow account to pay her back at an interest rate no one but my own mother would give me. As soon as I empty the escrow account, Ill declare the loans repaid. What do you mean, that makes no sense? Thats just what the U.S. government did for GM, and no one finds that problematic, do they? Never mind that the cash part of the loan has been repaid from TARP, or that this in fact represents only about 15 percent of the total bailout, or that the rest remains tied up in the automotive equivalent of cats and litter boxes. By the way, Im thinking of bundling all my liabilities into a separate company, just like GM. Ill call the company Some other Claire who can deal with the creditors, never heard of that Claire.
The excited trade in GMs stock seems to be making everyone in America feel good. This is great news not just for GM, but its great news for Michigan and great news for the country, Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm said. The bottom line for us is were climbing out of this very, very deep hole that we were in. This is a very important rung on that ladder out. Thats just how I feel, thanks to my mother: no more sleepless nights. At least, were told, the stock is back in private hands. Thank God for that, since only the government would be stupid enough to buy stock at $43.84 a share, sell it at $33, and call it a triumph. (My mother isnt stupidshe just loves me. Mind you, the boundary theres a bit blurry.)
Even if taxpayers ultimately take a loss on the GM investment, notes the Washington Post cheerfully, administration officials and other supporters noted this week that the U.S. auto industry has added more than 77,000 jobs since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection, vehicle exports are up well beyond 2009 levels, and the nations Big Three car companies posted operating profits for the first three quarters of this year. Yes, I reckon Ill take a leaf out of GMs book now and start hiring like crazyIve got my mothers money to do it. Among other things, Im going to need a bodyguard, because my Turkish creditors might not take it well when I tell them that from now on, were on the GM model.
Sixteen months ago, we were pretty much flat on our backs, Dan Akerson, chief executive, told a crowd assembled for a big party to celebrate GMs return to the stock market. But we picked ourselves up and got back in the game. Another excellent idea. Lets not say Mom picked me up: thats demoralizing. Attention, friends: Ive picked myself up! Party on Saturday night to celebrate. Lets send the bill to my mom.
I do have a nagging concern about all of this. My mom has five kids. Im probably the worst at managing my finances, but my brothers and sister are definitely going to figure out what happened here. They might feel entitled to the same treatment. If they get themselves in trouble, too, theyll know Moms a soft touch. I hope this doesnt make them think they should try something stupid like moving to Istanbul to be a foreign correspondent, or whatever it is theyd rather do than keep those responsible jobs they have. Because frankly, if we all do it, so much, eventually, for my moms retirement. Im sure not going to be able to help her at this rate. So, Mom, I strongly advise you not to give any money to my brother, Mischa Ford Berlinski. His books seem to be more popular anyway, so really, theres no need. The bonus here is that now I can sell books at a price that doesnt reflect the real cost of producing them. (Fire sale on Claire Berlinski novels, reading public!) Mischa doesnt have the Mom loves me best advantage, so his books will cost more. A few more years of this and I could drive him right out of the marketand then there will be no more competition, solving both my financial problems and my sibling-rivalry issues in one stroke. As you always said when we were growing up, Mom, sometimes lifes not fair.
Now, dont get me wrong. GM may succeed, in the long run. Like me, it has done well in the past, and like me, it has cut its spending and gone overseas. Car journals seem to like some of its new products. Its pension plans are still underfunded by more than $27 billion, which would worry me if I were good at financial planning, but clearly Im not, so no need to think about that too closely.
I may pull through, too. But the difference between GM and me is that Im not really going to pretend this bailout hasnt come at a huge cost to my family, that anyone but my own mother would consider sinking more money into me a wise investment decision, or that the short-term infusion of cash shes provided really means Ive succeeded. One more important difference: my mothers money is hers, and no one forced her to give it to me. The governments money is yours, and they forced you to give it to GM. Other than that, same happy story.
Claire Berlinski, a contributing editor of City Journal, is an American journalist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.
So you have no intention of paying your mother back, either?
I'm sorry. Could you run that by me again?
You ASKED her to bail you out? You didn't just raid her bank account?
7 cats w/ 7 litter boxes? Kitty-poo condos? Eeeewww!
The initial irrational exuberance (and I suspect some "fixing" via the administration chums, but it's just a suspicion) have skyrocketed the GM stock from a mere 35 all the way up to 32.5 in less than a week. Oh...wait. That's a more like a LOSS, isn't it?
(And, you aint seen nuthin', yet).
.
Because the U.S. Government still owns a large chunk of you?
Sums it all up nicely!
Aside from the higher level spot on, the basic plane material world aspect is antique as well.
Oh, yes , now & then & here and there they made something rather well, but mostly annoying badly designed ,even more horribly manufactured out of the cheapest off the shelf farmed out material.
Yes, all you GM suckers, I mean lovers, there are lovely Buicks & . . ., something else that you love, but they don't last (i.e. Volvo has one closing in on 3,000,000 miles).
Oh, I can't go on!
They suck, they have always sucked, and they're getting suckier!
Simple enough to emulate, from anyone whose lost their center (ie; core values)...reach out for a government handout and bend over and take it where the sun don't shine from your employee's leadership.
whose = who's (or who has)
FWIW, I have a 99 Chevy Cavalier, not exactly the most prestigioius of GM vehicles, with 165,000 miles.
With the exception of wear items like tires and brakes, to date the only repairs have been to replace a window motor and an alternator.
I think that's pretty good.
Jeez, I almost tripped on myself with a knee-jerk response. Fortunately, I went back are read the ENTIRE thing...
Good grief.
A very good perspective and article, her dependence on “Mom” notwithstanding...
I could care less about GM-Obama Motors. I will NEVER buy a GM vehicle again, of any kind, for any price.
I'm not a greenie but one of my complaints about GM (& others) is the "throw away" aspect of much product popping out of factories.
With a slight dial up on the quality many manufactured items could easily last many times longer than they often do.
Btw- I have a Toyota a decade older with 240,000 miles that ironically also had an alternator and a window regulator replaced.
Claire Berlinski wrote a good book about Margaret Thatcher and seems to be a very sensible young woman. Not a great career choice, however, to try to make a living as a stringer journalist in Istanbul. I wish her well, and despite the odds in her chosen profession, I think she has a better chance than General Motors.
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