Two stories illustrate the problems that Detroit has. Years ago there was an article in the New Yorker about Detroit blaming its workers for poor quality. The author visited a Chrysler plant and saw workers grinding crankshafts. The crankshaft grinder had worn leadscrews (the author did not know this, but it was easy to surmise from his description), and the workers had devised a method of making an acceptable crankshaft despite the limitations of the grinder. It wasted time, but it worked. The ridiculous aspect is that worn leadscrews are an easy and cheap fix, but management had no knowledge of the nitty gritty aspects of their company, so they didn't spend the trivial amounts required for the fix. The other story is that GM decided to make automatic transmissions in Japan. The Japanese transmissions were made to the same blueprints as the US ones, but their warranty costs were a small fraction of the US transmissions. It turned out that the tolerances on the blueprints were set by the limitations of worn out machines in the US, but since the Japeanese won't tolerate worn out machines they tightened the tolerances to what was required for reliablity. These stories illustrate an attitude that is taking decades to change. Toyota and other Japanese companies prove that attention to detail pays off. Now it appears that Hyundai has quickly come to the same conclusion. The American Big 3 (not so big anymore) should offer 10 year warranties. That would prove that their money is where their mouths are, and they could probably raise their prices and increase sales. And the bean counters that still bedevil their companies would demand better reliability.

No plan will work as long as Cheney and Rumsfeld have any influence. Cheney made a deal with the Texas Oil Oligarchs and their Saudi confederates to get control of Iraqi oil. Both the US oil companies and the Saudi royal family are in desperate need of additional resources to maintain their wealth. It takes a lot of money to maintain the lifestyle of Saudi princes, and the Saudis have appeared to have damaged their oilfields so that they are no longer as productive as they once were. Needless to say there is no limit to the greed of Texas oilmen. They still believe that somehow we can install a puppet government that will allow them to make lots of money off the Iraqi oil. It's going to have to get a lot worse before it gets better.