A few weeks ago a public-relations firm working for General Motors phoned to ask if I’d say on the media that the buy-back GM was offering its employees was a good deal for them. GM’s public-relations firm said they’d offer me money if I did this, as a show of respect. I told them I’d look at the deal and make up my own mind, and I told them to keep their money.
I’ve looked at the deal and I don’t know whether GM’s buy-back offer is a good deal for its employees or not. That depends on whether the alternative is a GM bankruptcy, in which case anyone who bailed out early and got some cash would be better off than anyone who held on and got nothing. It’s roughly analogous to an over-booked airline offering less money than a seat costs to any ticketed passenger willing to give up a seat. It would be a good deal for the passenger who took them up on it only if the plane never got off the ground.
AUTO SPIES PERSPECTIVE: Most major manufacturers have traded money for good press for YEARS but in a more subtle way...through ad dollars. The major car mags have been on the take for a long time!!!
The next thing the media will report is baseball players take steroids and boxing is fixed! ;)
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