General Motors, Ford, Chrysler economics

[Joel N. Weber II]

This article claims that US automakers have destroyed $465 billion in capital over the last few decades.

To put that in perspective, this thread suggests that very roughly speaking, $100 billion may buy 500-600 route miles of high speed passenger track. Very roughly, that means that if the US automakers had built high speed track instead of building automobiles with that destroyed capital, we could probably today have 2000-3000 route miles of high speed track.

San Diego to Vancouver, British Columbia is roughly 1400 miles, and Miami to Boston 1500 miles. So we could have had high speed track along most or all of the populated parts of both coasts with that money.

 

[Hanno]

This article claims that US automakers have destroyed $465 billion in capital over the last few decades.
To put that in perspective, this thread suggests that very roughly speaking, $100 billion may buy 500-600 route miles of high speed passenger track. Very roughly, that means that if the US automakers had built high speed track instead of building automobiles with that destroyed capital, we could probably today have 2000-3000 route miles of high speed track.

San Diego to Vancouver, British Columbia is roughly 1400 miles, and Miami to Boston 1500 miles. So we could have had high speed track along most or all of the populated parts of both coasts with that money.

I don't know what the "right" thing to do is relative to helping the auto companies but I do know that we have really failed in regard to developing a comprehensive transportation system in this country!