Auto dealers are pleading with Congress–their companies’ new board of directors–for mercy, now that Chrysler has shut down 789 local dealerships and GM is set to close 1,100 as a start. I don’t understand how cutting down the number of sales outlets is going to help the car companies sell more cars. The reason given is that there are so many dealerships that they undercut each other in price. But that’s the beneficial competition of the free market, which benefits car buyers above all! If the dealers can’t make money, they will disappear on their own.
This is an example of the top-down economic mindset that is replacing the free market, a mindset that apparently goes beyond our nationalizing government to the boardrooms of the big corporations. (Contrary to popular opinion, corporations are not necessarily fans of the free market, since they tend to dislike competition, clamor for anti-free-trade protectionism, and love government intervention when it’s in their favor.) Meanwhile, local communities are hurt. In small towns especially, car dealerships are among the pillars of the community, a major source of jobs and civic philanthropy.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In