Bear-Stearns, the Freddy/Fannie fiasco, both "to big to be allowed to fail", we are told. Air lines are next, the precedent has already been set, and good ol' Uncle Sam will ride to the rescue. The problem is, when the benevolent uncle reaches for his wallet, the only thing left in his pocket is lint.

It is too late to look for alternate/more efficient design or fuels after a crisis hits. That's because it takes capital to make changes in manufacturing. A company that is bleeeding is expending capital simply trying to stay in business. Alternate fuels may help, but if I'm not mistaken most airlines were losing money even before fuel prices went up. That means that alternate fuels would have to be even cheaper than prices were 2 years ago to reverse the trend.

You sound like Clinton. Gee, it will take 10 years to develop new oil fields so why bother? Typical stupid American thinking. The Japanese have 10 year strategic business plans. Europeans have 5 to 10 year straegic business plans and the US has three month strategic business plans. Is it any wonder we are a sinking ship?

When I say it is too late to develop alternate alternate forms of energy, I was speaking from the perspective of the airline industry which is currently bleeding to death. They can not simply pump capital dollars into development, if they are trying to stay afloat. That is why I feel a government bail-out is all but a certainty, which was the point of the post.