oh, i don't disagree at all. my understanding is that they could've tied bankruptcy restructuring to the US bailout, but chose not too.

i was thinking more of canada - bankruptcy is federally regulated and the legislation is in dire need of an update, so i'm not entirely sure how filing for bankruptcy would work at this point in time. in other cases where the company has come back, it's been an absolute mess. mind you, our auto industry is totally tied to the US industry, so i can only see bankruptcy filings here if there was in the US as well.

i have to admit too - from a totally selfish standpoint, i think - nobody's giving $ to the telecom industry and my bf got laid off....it's not fair that he would have to go through that when companies that have so utterly failed do not. of course, economics isn't about fairness....

eta: canada had actually done a pretty great job of not running deficits and paying off debt - now the gov't is planning on going $30b into debt (which i know is peanuts compared to the US)....but still....same thing, how does the nation have that money? it doesn't.

It is interesting that the extremists keep insisting that the economic crisis in the US is evidence that Capitalism is a failed experiement.

What about all the Socialist countries that are failing right now?

i think that whole paradigm is a bit false though - the US has never been purely capitalist in the sense that there has always been government intervention in the economy. just as few of the socialist countries are truly purely socialist (we have a conservative government at the moment) it's a world economic system, after all.

 Quote: jennifer mullen

i think that whole paradigm is a bit false though - the US has never been purely capitalist in the sense that there has always been government intervention in the economy. just as few of the socialist countries are truly purely socialist (we have a conservative government at the moment) it's a world economic system, after all.

Good points.
If we'd focus more on a "world" economic system, we'd all be a lot better off.

On an economy-related note, I had a few pre-Christmas shopping experiences that were interesting and baffling...especially considering how retailers are headline news, whining about how poor sales are.

I attempted to purchase several items at a local, small chain store only to be told the computer was frozen and credit cards couldn't be processed at that time. Ok, how about a check? Nope, couldn't do that either. Cash?? No, frozen computer meant no sales of any kind could be processed. The salesperson was clearly too dumb to manually figure out the sales tax, and God forbid she should wing it, so she let me put down my items and leave the store empty-handed! :shocked:

I was so amazed I couldn't even get angry at her, but I did later let the company know how irked I was.

I made two separate online purchases on the same day with a well-known, high-end SF retailer. I was unaware that making multiple purchases meant that the second order was "held" so they could make certain it was really ME doing the buying. I mean, silly me...multiple purchases at Christmas time??!! Problem is, they held it for 4 days which meant that a gift intended for the 25th was, in fact, sitting at FedEx in Sacramento. They had all my contact information and no one bothered to pick up the phone and call me. No one bothered to inform me that the order was being held and would not arrive by Christmas. No one did their job.

So I just refused shipment of that gift an hour ago and blasted the company by phone or email. Screw 'em...they lost my business and my money.

Finally, I noticed this year, more than previous years, was THE worst in terms of unavailable merchandise. All of my choices at one place were out-of-stock, leaving me frustrated and highly irritated. I did my stint in retail over 20 years ago so I understand how the game is played: Excess inventory is bad business. But you know, Christmas is the one time these guys can be reasonably assured of sales and pissing off and frustrating a customer with money to spend is not the way to go.

That company didn't make any money off of me.

The point of all of this is: With tighter budgets and difficult financial times, it is encumbent upon us, the consumer, to demand better service and better quality goods from the places we choose to patronize. The days of accepting sloppy customer service, outright incompetence, and poorly-made items is over. I have NO sympathy for retailers or anyone who doesn't truly deliver; I won't tolerate it, and I suspect most people these days won't either. Call them on their garbage, hold them accountable, and make the time to let them know when they drop the ball and what the consequences of that are.

If there is one bright spot to be found in this whole economic mess, it's that all the crap we've learned to live with, step around, and ignore will likely be flushed out of the system. And that's a good thing, IMHO.

That's my Saturday morning, post-holiday rant...

Customer Disservice: We're not satisfied until you're not satisfied!