As Praktike mentioned, GM and Ford both had their corporate credit rating cut to junk status yesterday.

Mike Millikin (who is, as I may have mentioned, this week’s InterActivist) has some thoughts — and hopes — on the matter.

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Also, be sure to read this Carl Pope post, which offers some great historical perspective:

This sad saga stretches back more than a quarter of a century, since the industry failed to respond nimbly to the combination of Arab oil that was more expensive and Japanese sedans that were better made. Detroit had two choices — one was to reach out to the nation and ask for public support in dealing with its underlying challenges. The other was to try sustaining itself by putting ever larger shells of sheet metal on old truck technology, and marketing the results as a passport to freedom and safety high above the road.

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The industry took the second path.

I suspect history will view this as a real landmark in the troubled life and times of the U.S. auto industry.