Eddie Evans's List: Chrysler Bailout

• They find that when accounting is used as evidence in politics, it is often employed as a rationalization for a decision or as ammunition for an argument—both applications for which it is not typically best suited.
• In the Chrysler case, arguments over the changing face of capitalism and whether the federal government should interfere at all in the free market were piled on to the financial evidence presented to Congress
• In 1979, Chrysler's role as a major employer and auto and auto-parts provider crowded out economic analysis
• Today, distress over the U.S. economy and individual retirement savings may be weighing more heavily on the minds of Congressional leaders than hard financial facts
• In the end, despite the huge risk, the bailout saved Chrysler from bankruptcy

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