The Reckoning was a book written about the near bankruptcy of Detroit in the 1970's. Reading it is an amazing lesson of how history repeats itself. Some interesting notes: 1) Lee Iacocca had to give up his company jet as a condition of the US Government loan. (He then leased a private plane and then claimed that a a famous public figure it was necessary.) 2) The oil price shock came when the price per barrel jumped from $3 to $12. However, the drop in car buying came well after that. 3) Michigan got a loan of 500 million from a consortium of five Japanese banks. Deja Vu.
My favorite history quote is that the only thing history teaches us is that we never learn anything from history. Even that quote is a re-write ... originally from the Psalms. "There is nothing new under the sun". We're all stuck in a big feedback loop.
