Sunday, October 12, 2008

Minor simulation reflection

To reflect on the simulation this week, I loved it. It was great to do something a little different than we do in most classes and be able to get creative. Like most other people though, I think it would have been more enjoyable to discuss a different topic, mostly because this was one that did not leave much room for persuasion. Most groups were set in what they believed, including the president who had to keep his constituents and major campaign contributors in mind.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7664866.stm
Last week, I trained my eyes to pick out certain words when skimming articles on domestic content. So, not surprisingly, when I saw this article on the BBC website, it caught my eye. Both sides had theories on what would happen if we were to repeal domestic content laws. People in favor of domestic content laws argued that American automobile manufacturers would not be able to stay in competition without domestic content laws, while those opposed argued that repealing domestic content laws would actually allow American companies to produce cars more cheaply and thus put them in a better position against foreign auto manufacturers.
The content of this article made me think that the groups opposed to domestic content laws were right. I agreed with them in the last blog post, but I wasn’t sure if their argument would stand up in the real world. Now I think it would. The fact that GM and Chrysler were thinking about merging even before the economic crisis made me realize just how badly these companies are doing. Hopefully the two companies would be able to survive independently because a merger would put a lot of people out of work. Anyway, now I’m really excited for our next simulation and the chance to go more into depth with the project!

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