4. The New Economic Reality

As the stock market cheered the presumed newfound soundness of the nation’s banks by rising to the highest levels since the lows in March; General Motors filed for bankruptcy in June 2009. Who would have thought; General Motors was recognized as the largest automobile company in the world only a year ago!

As recently as a couple of months earlier, its chief executive officer Rick Wagoner all but ruled out Chapter 11 protection while asserting the company could turn profitable again. He was promptly fired by the newly sworn-in president of the United States. The incoming new CEO Fritz Henderson smartly hinted that he could see how a bankruptcy could be possible for GM. Yet he was still mincing words, “If we need to ...

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