Here is some big news – GM’s deal to sell off Saab to Koenigsegg Group AB has fallen apart. When it first became apparent that GM was going to sell or shut down Saab the Swedes had their sense of national pride kick, leaving Koenigsegg with the desire to turn their VERY small car company into the savior of Saab (and the Swedish brand).

Initially the deal made no sense. Koenigsegg only produced 34 cars during their first years of operation, how could the company become a high volume company?  They do not have the capacity or management experience to run the brand.  Turns out the deal didn’t make sense in the end as well seeing the stockholders did not believe Saab could switch from being a “high volume” brand to a luxury brand.

Without a buyer Saab is heading to the giant junk yard in the sky, that is to say Saab is going to close down. If the deal does fall apart it will be the third time GM has failed at selling off a unit – Opel and Saturn being the other two. These broken deals only go to show how bad the car industry really is.

Economic Musings – The US

Driving in today I heard that the latest GDP numbers for the 4th quarter and it turns out that the U.S. economy contracted 6.2% in the last three months of 2008. This ends up being significantly weaker than the 3.8% originally predicted at the beginning of the month.

Not only this is the worst GDP drop in 25 years, but the magnitude of the revision is truly astounding. When one looks at the unemployment numbers and the large waves of layoffs in the last two months, Q1/2009 could easily be on par – if not worse than – Q4/2008.

Economic Musings – International

Two days ago I commented that people need to look beyond our boarders for additional indicators of the economic climate. I specifically singled out Japan and Germany. Both countries saw significant contraction in recent months, but what about other countries?

Chilean industrial production fell the most in 10 years as output declined 8.9% year over year, another country we can add to the recession list.

By now it should be clear that this is a world wide recession and no country is safe.

Don’t understand the credit crisis? Watch this.

I know a number of people who do not fully understand the credit crisis and how the economies of the world ended up where they are today. Here is an outstanding cartoon that manages to explain a rather complicated situation in a very simple, yet effective method.

This is a must watch!

• In German, Opel workers stage a mass rally demanding that GM (the Parent Company) keep their plant open.
• Saab, who just filed Bankruptcy in their home country last week, is also staging a protest against GM closing production facilities.
• The Latvian Government is on the verge of collapse due to the financial crisis.
• Greek farmers shut down airports and public services as a form of protest to the current economic conditions they face.

And the final random thoughts for this post…

It’s the weekend and I need a break – time to get away from the stresses of work, the world, and life in general.

I’ll be having dinner with my Parents on Sunday, which will be enjoyable, and I expect to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as well.

There will be no cooking, exotic or otherwise… though I do have a few new things I want to try. One specifically is the Paprika Chicken Roast over @ ReTorte! Wandering Coyote really has some good food selections.

Finally, my review of The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die will come this evening…

Until then!