Critics Wrong-GM Worth $50 Billion & Profitable With Bailout

President Obama's decision to bailout and restructure General Motors was an unpopular decision at the time, but the numbers show it has paid off with jobs, a stable economy and now a higher net worth for GM than it has had in 10 years. GM is now competitive and profitable. Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, discusses the President's tough decisions on the American auto industry in light of the General Motors IPO.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• obama
• gm
• general motors
• bailout
• austan goolsbee
• jobs
• plants

[michaelhoppe13]

If I am wrong then explain what this speadsheet really means: This is the PDF from the treasury detailing the exact numbers for the entire program not just GM's lack of repayment to the tune of 45.76 Billion (auto 56.88 minus Chrysler 11.12 include GMAC financing arm of GM).

[jdick0009]

The United States government has no business aiding a business to be profitable or not. Any failing business can be "made profitable" via the use of basically free money, which GM got. GM had, and has, a failed business model, and the only way it is profitable is because its debt is now backstopped by T-bills. Them going out of business would have created a vacuum for better companies to fill, like Ford. As for the info in this video: Since then, GM is down 12% while the S&P is up over 8%.

[sophiemarie49]

Thank goodness that the Obama administration saved our auto industry. All those jobs, the direct and indirect that were saved are a real positive for our economy.

It is a shame that our corporate system doesn't give any consequence to those ceo's that brought GM to the sad state they were in 2009.

gamescott, you are confusing the worth of the company and the worth of the stock. Two very different things.

[gamescott]

Wait... on the graph, it looks like GM is worth about $1 billion in 2009. Then, Obama makes a "$49 billion investment." Then, the market value is about $50 billion in 2010.

How is this surprising?

[sheriff326]

@tysonsahib

And by the way Tysonsahib I have a degree in economics I majored in macroeconomics and minored in computer programming. So maybe it is you that needs to go back to school.

Just go and buy all the shares that you can get your hands on. You sound pretty confident about this. So put your money where your mouth is. That way you can buy the same shares that the gov bought with your tax dollars and then sold them back to you. Wow...and you called me a moron:) See you later Mr Pelosi.

[sheriff326]

@tysonsahib

You are trying to count the shares that US Government, Canadian Government and Auto workers union are holding and never sold.

Market Cap is the number of shares outstanding multiplied by current share price.

Let's try this:

610,560,000 shares on the market IPO 11/18/2010

$34.26 current share price 11/19/2010

$20,920,000,000 Market Capitalization 11/20/2010

I'm starting to think that you work for Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or something.

[tysonsahib]

@sheriff326 Yeah, I don't believe, because you're totally wrong. YOU just make stuff up. Market cap is $51.4 billion: moneycentral.msn.com/companyre­port?symbol=GM The US already got back $20 billion or whatever from the IPO, so they don't still owe $41 billion. Your numbers are whacked.

[tysonsahib]

Market cap is $51.4 billion, not $20.9 billion. Morons. moneycentral.msn.com/companyre­port?symbol=GM

[tysonsahib]

It's not that these people think the American public are morons, it's that YOU are morons. I hope you guys get locked up in a school and don't get let out until you learn something. The IPO did not sell the entire company, that's why the market value is not $20.9 B. You think you're pro-free market but don't even understand how the market works. The US owned something like 60% of GM and sold something like half the government's share. Don't know the exact numbers, but not the whole company.

[redbeakman]

This is a lie. The treasury bought up the offering and lost BILLIONS on the IPO to inflate the value to make it appear like a success. We are being manipulated like never before. We are being told that 2+2=5. These people think the American public are morons that will swallow whatever they are fed. I hope that we prove them wrong and put them in prison. GM is part of the problem and will be until it is alowed to fail and succeed on its own merits.