Oh that reminds me, when I was a kid we went to the drive in with my
Dad in an old Ford Econoline van. During the movie Dad slid his
seat back to be more comfortable. On the way out after the movie the
traffic stopped and he went for the brake which was now too far away
for his foot to activate. When he slammed into the back of the car
in front the engine mount in the old Econoline broke and the engine
fell out. Made shifting and clutching difficult. ;-)
Funny thing. The girl in the car he hit was named Lapierre. Not
related. She's from a different clan that doesn't know how to spell
LaPierre.
Mark LaPierre
A Cuban friend told me that when they got a ¨new¨ Russian car during
Soviet times, the first place you took it was to your mechanic. The
reason was to tighten every bolt in the car to make sure the doors
did not fall off or the engine turn upside down.
Dale Davies
The joke in USSR Russia was; "We pretend to work and the commie
government pretends to pay us:)
We are getting a taste of that in the US right now.
Paul Lamar
Gerald Klerman told me about the quality of US made cars: it look
pretty well in the dealers' showroom, but after one week, it start to
break apart. About the soviet system, a local joke said: What's
capitalism? -Men exploiting men. and socialism? -The reverse.
Somebody or something is destroying the minds of US workers, this may
be the reason why some US products for which the quality of manpower
matters are not that good. Best regards. Salut Jose
Gros-Aymerich Madrid, Spain
He is wrong.
That might be true of Chrysler as they are owned by Fiat. Could also
be true of GM as they are owned by the Union and the US Government.
Ford has excellent quality and several Japanese brands are assembled
in the US. Toyota is the best selling brand in Cal. Many parts for
all cars made in the world are now made by the Chinese now
enthusiastic capitalist.
The auto manufacturing world is truly an international biz.
For example Brazil makes BMW engines found in Mini's.
Socialism is close to communism. Socialism sucks and capitalism is
how the world prospers. Why do you think 20 million foreigners have
sneaked into our country across the Mexican border. They have
socialism in Mexico and the country is a disaster area.
Without robust capitalism there would be no money for poor people.
http://cba3.com/
You need to travel around a bit more and see for yourself.
Paul Lamar
Your right on Paul! After several trips to Europe, which is a great
vacation, it doesn’t take long to figure out that the USA is the
place to live. As much as I get pissed off at our government, we have
it much better than most. Unfortunately, I don’t think our current
government is through screwing up our country, but its still better
than anywhere else.
Bob Mears
Capitalism is designed to provide a profit to the [investors not
necessarily rich]. All businesses have stakeholders, people to whom
the business must provide their very best. It used to be that a
business considered employees and consumers in the highest regard as
stakeholders. Consumers wouldn't buy their products unless they got
the very best their hard earned money could pay for, and employees
were regarded as the company's best consumers. If a GM assembly
plant worker didn't buy GM it showed a lack of faith in his/ her
product. That's all changed, for the worse. Now companies have little
regard for consumers [at their peril]. They've found that consumers
will buy on the reputation of what once was. Chevrolet is a prime
example. The company has spent millions on auto racing to promote
their name, while at the same time cutting corners on their products.
This began with their Turbo 350 transmission which was designed to
fail at 60,000 miles in order to provides increased sales in service
departments. Once they sold these transmissions and the consumer
didn't raise any complaints, mainly due to the fact the most new car
buyers replace their cars every 3-4 years, they began cutting costs
across the board. This showed up in things like smaller diodes in
later alternators, smaller, [ down right puny], oil filters! idler
arms on Monte Carlos that were ordered with enough clearance to
warrant replacement off the showroom floor, etc..
Companies began a bottom line mentality in the '80s, possibly
spurred on by Reaganomics, of further cost cutting measures that saw
stagnation in employee wages below mid management levels and
reduction in same through attrition. The employee was also no longer
regarded as an important stakeholder. That importance had shifted to
upper management [no the bottom line to keep the investor happy] and
now as companies went public, to the stockholders. I was told while
working at a prominent member of the semiconductor industry that our
only purpose was to provide a profit to our stockholders [true but
many people are stock holders. You can become one too.] This shift
is what is destroying our country [not true]. Our morals have
shifted.
We [not every body] no longer care about the least among us, only the
wealthiest [ourselves?].
Ken Cohagen
And then competition came along from Japanese cars. See what
happened to GM. They failed big time. Much of what you say is true
but your economic understanding is weak.
Read Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to
Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt
Paul Lamar
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A million copy seller, Henry Hazlitt’s "Economics in One Lesson" is a
classic economic primer. But it is also much more, having become a
fundamental influence on modern “libertarian” economics of the type
espoused by Ron Paul and others.
Considered among the leading economic thinkers of the “Austrian
School,” which includes Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich
(F.A.) Hayek, and others, Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), was a
libertarian philosopher, an economist, and a journalist. He was the
founding vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education and
an early editor of
/The Freeman/ magazine, an influential
libertarian publication. Hazlitt wrote
/Economics in One Lesson/,
his seminal work, in 1946. Concise and instructive, it is also
deceptively prescient and far-reaching in its efforts to dissemble
economic fallacies that are so prevalent they have almost become a
new orthodoxy.
Many current economic commentators across the political spectrum have
credited Hazlitt with foreseeing the collapse of the global economy
which occurred more than 50 years after the initial publication of
/Economics in One Lesson/. Hazlitt’s focus on non-governmental
solutions, strong — and strongly reasoned — anti-deficit position,
and general emphasis on free markets, economic liberty of
individuals, and the dangers of government intervention make
/Economics in One Lesson/, every bit as relevant and valuable today
as it has been since publication.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The TH 350 was not necessarily designed to fail at 60K. The design
ethic that caused the shorter longevity was a very smooth shift. One
clutch slowly engaged while the other slowly released. This caused
accelerated wear. Chrysler Toqueflite transmissions shifted in a
noticeable manner. If they all had been built like the Toqueflite,
there would have been a lot fewer transmission shops around. There
is a basic "shift kit" that vastly increases the GM transmission
life.
Dale Davies
The TH350's in put and output shafts are not supported by bearings where
the two shafts intersect, in fact the two shafts merely butt up against
each other. The only support, or the only way either shaft is held in
the centerline of thrust, is by the friction of the clutches themselves.
Also, one of my instructors showed us his copy of a memo that came down
from GM management in the mid 60's calling for a transmission that would
not be as durable as the TH400 or Powerglide currently in service. Of
course I saw that memo many years ago and my instructor, who was
semi-retired when I attended school in the late '70s has most likely
passed on. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of that memo. But if you
look at the design of the TH350 and compare it to any other transmission
of that era you will see what I'm talking about. You can also look at
the design and durability of the TH200, which had stamped steel clutch
drums instead of machined steel to see GM's trend in downgrading the
quality of their product.
As for my statement about the focus of corporations moving from
employees and customers towards stockholders, all one has to do is
examine the damage outsourcing has done to our economy. However, I will
admit that I have not read Hazlit. Instead I've observed what Capitalism
has done over time, seen who's benefited from it and seen its failures.
Don't get me wrong I'm not for socialism, but any account of Capitalism
I've ever read or heard has not accounted for the greed of those who
have benefited the most. Therein lies the problem.
Ken Cohagen
It is not greed. Forget Hollywood movies. It is a necessary investment.
If I loan you money I am taking a risk. I want an incentive to loan
you money. Corporations need my money to develop new products
and build new factories and plant seed to grow food. Economics 101.
You can buy stock too. It is a good hedge against inflation. The
stock market goes up in proportion to the amount of money the
government prints.
Save your money while you are young and invest in real estate
and the stock market. Forgo that new car or boat and put the $300 to $400
a month in stock. You won't be able to live on SS.
Not counting inflation that $400 will be a 1/2 million in 30 years
at a 10% annual return compounded quarterly. If you get lucky and pick
another Apple Computer Corp, a lot more than a 1/4 million.
Or start a biz yourself.
Paul Lamar
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