Reply #3: I disagree

[cmutt]

I actually found it refreshing that our government would intervene on behalf of one of our own companies to support/protect them. It's sad for our companies to be on deaths door before our government felt the need to do so. I know that flies in the face of "true capitalism", but ask yourself this: doesn't Toyota enjoy advantages on behalf of the Japanese government? Japan is a notoriously closed market for imported goods. The web is filled with stories of things like "Kodak film not being ok'd for use in Japanese cameras to protect their local company, Fuji film". Sure, you can always argue that 'we don't build what they want', but that hardly explains the success somebody like GM has in China. Clearly GM knows foreign markets and has the products that can sell there. The Japanese banking industry is intertwined with the government & currency manipulation has been employed for years, hyper-inflating Japanese-domestic companies profits on goods sold outside their borders. I could easily argue that Toyota doesn't need any of OUR governments help.. they've got a government that already has been helping them out.

IMO, the US would be a better place today with more protectionist policies.