I have, again, spent a large amount of time away from my blog. This time I actually have something interesting to talk about.
Today General Motors has come out of bankruptcy in record time. Only 40 days after they filed for Chapter 11 they are back out again. The new GM will have have only the major brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac. The new GM is also free of much of its former crushing debt. They are ready to be a leaner meaner company that will be profitable again. Good thing right? Well…there are some other numbers involved…
Guess who owns the new GM? The good old US of A. The only reason why GM was able to get out of bankruptcy so fast was because of backing from the US government.
This is something unprecedented in US history but, hell, we already did it with a couple of other financial companies. We might as well own a car company too right?
The US Government, in fact, financed GM’s road out of bankruptcy and will end up giving them about $50 Billion. The entire reasoning behind this was that it would save American jobs lost by a GM failure. At the end of 2008, GM employed about 91,000 people. In the new leaner GM they will cut about 27,000 jobs. This will leave a grand total of 64,000 jobs that were saved. I don’t mean to insult anyone with simple math, but taxpayers have just spent $781,250 per job that was saved!
Workers at GM make an average of about 40,000 per year. Let’s be generous to the government and say all those people fall into the 15% tax bracket. Let us also assume that inflation stays at an average of 3%. If you treat it like a no interest loan, it will take about 53 years before those 64,000 jobs pay back the loan in tax revenue!
I will be 75 years old by then. These guys better start making some good cars…
I, like many other people, am a rather large fan of the Star Trek series. The original series that I got into was The Next Generation. For a TV series it had pretty amazing writing and acting. I guess that’s why they were able to make a few good movies with those actors. The Next Generation Star Trek cast was not the only ones that I liked though. I am definitely also a fan of the original series and movies. The Wrath of Khan is still one of my favorite Star Trek movies.
All that said. The new Star Trek movie has brought new life into the series. 
I think the creators of this movie really thought about how to make it appeal to a whole new audience. I found that the movie gave homage to the original but still became a new being.
The opening sequence is by far one of the more dramatic that I’ve seen. You are immediately brought into the story and care about the characters. This is pretty rare for a movie to accomplish in the first 10 minutes. I don’t want to give more away about the storyline for those who haven’t seen it yet. I would definitely recommend this movie. I have already seen it twice and will probably see it again.
I will admit it. The original reason that I watched The Dark Knight was because Heath Ledger had recently died. I had seen his movies before and thought he was a pretty good actor. I wanted to see one of his last works. This was the reason I saw the movie the first time. This was not the reason I saw it three more times in theaters.
Heath Ledger’s performance was by far the most amazing rendition of The Joker as well as the most amazing acting I’ve seen in a long time. When I saw the movie for the first time, I literally was left taken aback. I can still barely get over it.
Heath Ledger was not the only thing that made that movie amazing. I found all the actors in that movie also had very good performances. The writing and the production was inspired. So the questions begs…what can you do in the next movie?
Thinking about it just brings up more questions. Would it be appropriate to have The Joker in the next movie? Could they ever get someone to match Heath Ledger’s performance? If a different villain is chosen then who do you use? Would it ever receive the same kind of reception as the first movie?
I personally don’t think that another Batman movie could ever be as good. I’ve thought about different villains that could be used and different plot lines. I just can’t think of anything that would ever stand up to The Dark Knight. I guess since I never saw The Dark Knight coming, it’s possible they could have something up their sleeves. Only time will tell…
I am about to graduate with a degree in Finance. All through my academic career my professors have talked about the markets. The financial meltdown that took place in the United States and the world made for excellent class discussion. I would say I might know a little bit more about it then others. Particularly the root of the matter. The Sub-prime mortgage mess.
In the most recent classes I took, the professors have been talking in particular about stock market movements. I find it incredibly frustrating that when I hear something like, “Warren Buffet proclaims that AMEX is a great buy” I can’t do anything. Because although I have at least some knowledge, I do not have the capital to invest. I guess I’ll just have to catch the next financial crisis. Such is life…
I am experimenting with a new google search for my site. Comment if you have any opinions.
