Every few days I catch up on Jerry Flint's thinking about the auto industry.
will take you to his archive
Jerry Flint has covered the industry since the 1950s and I always enjoy his historic perspective. For my money the auto industry is extremely important because of the marginal contribution to the economy. Click on the hyperlink to read his suggestions about what Washington needs to learn about autos.
A car requires steel, plastic,electrics and all sorts of new products from suppliers. It must be designed and assembled and shipped and sold. This spawns railroad traffic and dealerships in every town of any size in America. This lead to sales and then service which spawns independent garages and used car dealers. Magazines and newspapers write about cars and run advertisements for them. Recycling leads to salvage yards and after market parts suppliers. Finally the scrap metal dealers enter the picture and we start all over again. The same can hardly be said for computer makers whose products are worthless in six months.
Professor Elam 
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