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"Not any more. However, a GM liquidation (and don't think that that is impossible) would have enormous implications for the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands. "

But that still sounds like as GM goes so goes the nation. Imagine if GM doubled its sales, profits and bought out Toyota how great that would be for the nation's economy. The slow death of what was once America's greatness does not augur well. The information/financial economy does not seem to be its equal.

Imagine if GM doubled its sales, profits and bought out Toyota

The amount of money GM wasted developing Saturn (cars for people who don't like cars) could have purchased Toyota outright.

GM dropped the ball, and it will have a bad effect on our economies.

That's a bit of a pity, because I kinda liked the Envoy I rented in January...

I don't really see it as the death of America's greatness -- I see it as the end of America's overwhelming superiority in all things. Think of the "golden age" of the 50s and the 60s --> the rest of the world was either recovering from WWII or getting over colonialism. America was the 10,000 pound gorilla in a zoo with nothing else matching in size except tiny mice.

Then, in the 70s, you had chimps -- like Germany, France, Japan, while the US became a 100 pound gorilla: still overwhelming superiority in all things, but the others could gang up to take the big guy down.

Now, as the world is finally recovering from war and communism, it is catching up with the US: and some earlier economic superpowers like China and India (who were at the start of the 1800s accounting for nearly half the world's GDP) are waking up.

Is it the end of America? No way. Is it the end of American leadership? Not by a long shot. Is it the end of American OVERWHELMING dominance economically? Yes. Economically the US still dominates, but it is a multi-polar world.

Militarily, it is a different matter where the US navy can easily take on the next 10 navies and win hands down.