In 1950, when GM signed a contract with the UAW, the Big Three's share of America's domestic auto market was about 95 percent. The economies of Japan and Germany were still ravaged by World War II and were not a threat. The Big Three and their workers' union were certain...

I get asked a lot of investing questions. I am conflicted in answering them. I want to be helpful but I also want to be tactful.

Here are some of the most common questions I am asked. They are followed by the answers I wish I could give.

Q. Have...

Disclosure first: I live in Southern California, and I'm almost certain they don't sell American cars here. The cops drive Crown Vics, but only to give the criminals a sporting chance to get away. Makes the freeway chases last longer. Good for ratings.

I guess I've rented American cars. I...

Two weeks ago Senator Barack Obama was elected to our nation's highest office by a large margin. This coming January 20 a record breaking four million people are forecasted to attend his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. This is especially amazing since Barack Obama is responsible for the recession? Aghast,...

Can South America escape the wrath of the economic and financial storms that have their epicenter in the United States? Since the financial meltdown began in mid-September, the bond markets of most of the region (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela) have been hit, as well as most of their stock markets...

This week U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama told Meet The Press and CNN that the U.S. auto industry is a dinosaur whose demise would only be postponed by a bailout. In response, automotive journalist Peter M. DeLorenzo told Huffington Post today that Shelby is 100 percent wrong.

Wall Street will be facing a talent retention challenge very shortly unless the bonus issue is elegantly handled this year.

Over the past week the news has been full of "outrage" and questions about whether bankers should get their bonuses this year. Talk of large chunks of the...

As Thanksgiving approaches and I watch the dire economic situation in Detroit unfold,  I keep having a recurrent thought:  Washington must try to prevent economic disaster for Michigan workers, but GM executives should get their gooses cooked.

There is no question that the collapse of the Big Three manufacturers in...

Marketers, agencies and media companies are struggling to come to grips with the economic downturn, but the economy is camouflaging their most compelling and challenging long-term reality. The fundamental 200-year history of marketing is being overhauled. The basics of the business -- the underlying principles that are the foundation the...

As reports emerge that FDIC chair Sheila Bair is being considered for Treasury Secretary, I am transported to a point in time over a year ago, when Bair fired a shot heard around the banking and economic justice world. On October 19, 2007, in a New York Times...

America must smarten up. The global economy has crashed and the cause must be determined to prevent another. My concern is that the big problem facing the world's leaders, who are trying to fix the global economy, will be America's denial of its responsibility for this mess and its resistance...

Our current financial crisis is a case study in ripple effects. A lot of bad mortgage loans, bad loans between organizations, bad evaluations by ratings agencies and bad oversight by government collectively toppled big Wall Street firms. This caused our credit markets to freeze, leading to business contraction, massive job...

by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger

The Bush administration is squandering hundreds of billions of dollars on incompetence again.

In a House Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing on Friday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, took Interim Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Stability Neel Kashkari (read: bailout chief) to task...

I'd like everybody who possibly can to listen to 'Obama's Challenge': A Transformative Opportunity, a 38-minute interview, podcast, from NPR's Fresh Air which was broadcast on Thursday November 6.

This seems really important to me. Hopeful as well, as if maybe there's a way out of this economic...

This is the first time in history in which a Chinese middle class of broad scale (125-150 million people) has confronted a global economic shock, begging the question of how spending behavior will - or will not - shift across a suddenly-altered economic landscape. Marketers hoping to counteract weakness in...

Five mistakes Washington and Detroit are making which could kill any help or support for our American car companies:

Mistake #1: Consumers and the environment are no longer considered in Washington's loans to the Detroit Three.

In Sen. Harry Reid's new bill to allow direct and swift loans to the...

During the presidential campaign, the housing debate sometimes had more to do with how many homes a candidate owned than about solutions to the nation's housing crisis. At other times, specious claims were made that the current foreclosure crisis was caused by Fannie Mae, or by policies started in the...