Letters to the Editor
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Newt, What Happened to the Free Market?
It is supremely ironic that Newt Gingrich is pushing billion dollar prizes for developing highly efficient engines. I listened to a Honda executive a few years ago who maintained that it was Honda's policy to strive for the highest fuel efficiency vehicle in every class in which they compete - they may or may not deliver that, but that is the goal. He said it was just Honda's policy, not subject to some calculation of quarterly profits. The executive was, of course, trained as an engineer. American auto companies went merrily along churning our gas hogs and when gas prices rose, they were left with losses in market share that inflicted far more damage to their bottom lines than a measly $1 billion. Of course, most American auto executives were trained in finance - the types that think you can run any company if you are a creative accountant.
Newt Gingrich: A conservative who forgets that all along there have been prizes in the market to reward fuel efficiency that far exceed his taxpayer funded incentive - you just have to manage car companies with people who know and care about cars and are able to think past the time when they will open up their golden parachutes and jump out of the company they helped manage to the point where it is spiralling into the ground.