Chris Blattman

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Why Big Auto failed, the podcast

After5 months nursing my leg injury, I’m jogging again, and that means podcasts.

A highlight of the week–the story of NUMMI on This American Life. A joint venture between Toyota and GM in California, Toyota agreed to teach GM its production secrets to see whether their system would transplant to the US.

The plant succeeded, but GM failed, and Toyota now produces gazillions of cars in America.

Previously, I’d suspected Big Labor held the keys to GM’s bankruptcy. Executives and the bureaucracy look much worse after this podcast.

2 Responses

  1. Man, you know the Reagan Revolution succeeded when anyone is capable of blaming anyone but GM management for GM.

  2. This American Life is consistently awesome. Though I’d say just about everyone at GM comes out looking pretty bad. Prostitutes and vodka screwdrivers make for great stories, but not great cars.

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