1930 Sixteen
Posted on 11/29/2005 3:07:22 PM PST by nickcarraway
Is there any way to keep this "creative destruction" in its economic box? It so often bleeds over into the cultural sphere, leading to all these wacky rewrites of Christmas songs, the exaltation of some old perversion, or the destruction of some old cultural tradition which has long formed a decent citizenry. And of course there's a pretty penny to be made by encouraging experiments in living badly, or madly.
The real pity is that GM produces/produced real automotive icons: 57 BelAire, 59 Cadillac, 63 Corvette, 68 Corvette, GTO/442/GS/Chevelle, 68 and 76 Eldorado, 68 Blazer, 06 Corvette Z06, and many more. It'll be a shame if it's all lost. GM better get off its collective ass.
Your recital of GM clasics is impressive.
should I read this?
Of course. It briefly mentions Adam Smith.
Excellent article. Learn something every day on FR (I did not know Schumpeter was not the best horseman in Austria :-))
Seriesly, this is why when people look at this "destruction" and claim the sky is falling, they often are missing the point.
The most obvious example of this is the so-called "plight of the family farmer".
Oh yeah, and the later V-12s as well. Talk about cars with "presence".
Cultural vs economic change are not always analogous. The two have little to do with eachother, actually.
Note, for example, that education could and *should* face the 'creative destruction' now happening to other information-based industries. The Cultural leftists are the main allies of the teachers unions and both will be the main force *opposing* change in the education sphere.
Oh! And the Koran has a whole chapter on Mary!
/sarc. I promise to read it. The article, that is.
Instead of the employee-discount deal, maybe GM could offer the employee-benefit deal: buy one of their vehicles and get the same health and pension bennies their employees get. Why not--you're paying for it anyway.
ping!
True.
If GM goes under, it could be the best thing ever for Detroit. Not to downplay the bad effects on individuals, but look at NO after Katrina---economically it will be able to get with the program, no more plantation-based economics.
Bringing women into the workplace en masse was a cultural change as well as an economic one. I likely know hundreds of commericals by memory, yet not nearly as many poems, music, or prayers, a situation I am hoping to remedy. How is the rise of economics-driven commercial culture not a cultural change? You've seen all those stupid "Be original! Buy this Soft Drink!" spots.
I wouldn't be surprised if "Creative destruction" in the eyes of many economic movers and shakers did encompass destroying our cultural inheritance. Jacobin capitalists, if you will.
However, those V-12s never really worked out. The biggest consumer of V16s and V12s was New York's J.P. Carey Co., today's largest limousine company. Carey's grandson, who learned to drive on his father's Sixteen, told me that the Twelves were "dogs." From a sales and marketing point of view for Cadillac, the Twelves didn't really serve any purpose other than to counter the Lincoln Twelve and to be a step down from the Sixteen.
Outside the Classic Era, this is my favorite Cadillac:
I love the early-Sixties straight lines, especially on the elongated chassis of the Series 75.
GM's fall might be more painful for having been delayed so long by protectionism, such as quotas on Japanese made cars and high tariffs on 2-door trucks. GM was in a better position in earlier years to have adjusted to the market, if it had been forced to.
The restructuring of our auto industry will only be for the better, as corporocrats and managerial dead wood are phased out as are expensive, unskilled workers.
I drive a Hyundai btw.
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