[Old School]

A measure of the magnitude of the ripple on the overall economy of a region, of a state, of the nation. Also, if GM reasons faultily that SUV's are the way to go, calculating that fuel costs will go down or that Americans don't care, etc. etc., it seems different to me than a couple buying a house at $350,000 when their "real value" position would have suggested a $150,000 home to have been appropriate. Of course, the whole housing/foreclosure crisis has a lot of folk lining up at the culpability trough.

Shouldn't the magnitude either to bailout or not, been considered before proceeding with the bailout? To date the government has bailed out banks, and auto industries. Since then many others have ask for bail outs, example, Ford wanted money until they realized that they would also become government motors II. Several other industries ask for bail outs, and it has now become the norm for everyone to expect help from the government for their bad decisions or management failures.

How can GM or anyother auto maker calculate fuel cost when we have no idea what the cost per gallon will be next month let alone 3 years from now.