What I think would be a good idea is the following scenario. I’ll talk about GM, but any american car manufacturer can listen in. Here’s the six-step business recovery path.

Step 1: File for Chapter 11 protection. This will allow restructuring at a lowel cash levels.

Step 2: Fire everybody.

Step 3: Hire back every single factory worker immediately, loose car designers and unions.

Step 4: Hire sane designers who are aware of contemporary trends and technologies. Let them kick ass.

Step 5: Emerge to the markets with fewer product lines, better models and better prices.

Step 6: Watch sales rise, competition get angry.

So far every foreign car manufacturer, including Toyota, Nissan, Honda and even Hyunday have been thanking the big three for their ugly cars, high fuel consumption and inability to design modern hip cars. Look at any Lincoln or Chrysler – they look very nineties… It’s end of 2008, people. Wake up!

Honda could afford selling (the uglies car ever) Element, because they sell Accord. Nissan doesn’t even have an ugly car, their lines look pretty decent. Even Hyunday took couple of photos of Jaguar and thought them through. What’s holding GM or Chrysler from doing same things is beyond me.

P.S. Here’s a better, but more cruel idea – branch out couple of product lines (one sedan with three models, one truck with three models and one line with small SUV, big SUV and van models). Something like Pontiac or Saturn for sedan, Saturn or Buick for big and small SUV, buy Town and Country from Chrysler for van model. Throw in a best selling pickup truck line. Loose everything else (okay, keep that Hummer beast for guys with small penises and Escalade for rappers) and make it into a single brand. Hire designers who don’t drink Budweiser or Heineken, lock them into a dungeon for as long as it takes them to design a modern looking car. Something that would look and sell better then Hyunday or Toyota, but priced just as low. Watch this brand beat the rest of big three in sales.

Don’t get me wrong, CC isn’t a best store around, but I’ll miss that big landmark from the Union Square. At least the big red and while sign is more fun than yellow on black counter of national debt.

By the way, don’t expect any huge sell-offs, discounts and so on. If CompUSA’s going out of business process is any indication, then the so-called “huge markdowns” would be jacking up price 20% and then discounting it by 10%. So if you might think they have a good deal of 10 or even 15 per cent off – be sure to check other stores. You might be in for a surprise.

Now, let’s do some math here. The median salary for this average worker is somewhere at $80K/year. Let’s pretend that he was making about that amount throughout all his 45 year of being on a work force. In real life you spend longer time earning less so you can earn more later in your career, but that would be out of the scope of 101 course.

So $80K / year times 45 years yields measly $3.6 million per entire work life of single individual. Let’s throw in some bonuses, some paid for and some non-monetary benefits (like training). Just so we can drag this number to at least $5 million. Which isn’t bad if you divide $5 million by 50 years of work – it’s $100K/year median. A salary of a well-placed manager, as far as I know.

You probably already know what I am getting at. You whole entire life you will be working for 4 times less than someone else is making per year (or per month – depending how lucky you can get).

Okay, that’s enough for today. The homework for next class – write a three page explanation why golden parachutes for CEOs benefit shareholders and workers of their respective corporations.

Class dismissed.

Usually, the Columbus day was some sort of a starter signal for shopping. Discounts start to pour in all the way until after-Christmas, when they truly peak. This year, however, I expect absolutely different situation. Even Black Friday has a strong chance to remain in red.

There is, however, a bright side to all these things. Discounts and price drops might just be deep enough to justify purchasing something you’ve been putting off for quite some time. My plan is to buy a bench for my home gym. Or maybe even an elliptical machine.