Bright Beacons

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Despite the car manufacturers' critical state, the United Auto Workers are resisting concrete steps to help the industry that has provided their livelihood for 70 years. Instead, they look to the government for subsidies Shades of the U.S. maritime industry, which began its death spiral in the 1970s, a time when it was massively subsidized by the federal government and when laws guaranteed that U.S.-flag vessels would carry all government-related cargo. Yet even with these subsidies and guarantees, the dozen or more U.S. companies -- including such once well-known names as American Export Lines, Grace Lines and Pacific Far East Lines -- failed, one after another, in the face of competition from more efficient carriers as more and more countries entered the international shipping market. the most efficient providers of goods or services that are similar in price or quality will succeed The parallels between the auto industry and our departed maritime industry are bright beacons.