Hilzoy asks some really good questions about the state of the auto industry and how it is regulated by state laws. While everyone is on the hobby horses of unionization, health care costs, and the easily politicized points, there are a maze of state-level regulations that make running a car company (or consolidating a failing car company) very complicated.

She doesn’t have answers for all of these questions, but what’s remarkable to me is that the issues at the heart of her question rarely get talked about. Something tells me that the dealership disparity alone accounts for a big chunk of GM’s problems, for example.

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