David Leonhardt - Big Three Auto

Name:	David Leonhardt
Title:	"Economic Scene" Columnist for the New York Times
Position:	Pro to the question "Should the Big Three car manufacturers be bailed out by the US government?"
Reasoning:	"There is good reason to keep G.M. and Chrysler from collapsing in 2009. (Ford is in slightly better shape.) The economy is in the worst recession in a generation. You can think of the Detroit bailout as a relatively cost-effective form of stimulus. It’s often cheaper to keep workers in their jobs than to create new jobs. But Congress and the Obama administration shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking that they can preserve the Big Three in anything like their current form. Very soon, they need to shrink to a size that reflects the American public’s collective judgment about the quality of their products. It’s a sad story, in many ways. But it can’t really be undone at this point. If we had wanted to preserve the Big Three, we would have bought more of their cars." "$73 an Hour: Adding it Up," New York Times, Dec. 9, 2008
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:	Organization/VIP/Other Individuals and organizations that do not fit into the other star categories.
Involvement and Affiliations:	"Economic Scene" Columnist, New York Times, 2006-present Staff Writer, New York Times Magazine Journalist, New York Times, 1999-2006 Former Metro Desk Staff, Washington Post Former Staff, Business Week Former Editor-in-Chief, Yale Daily News Recipient, Gerald Loeb Award, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Anderson School of Management, 2004 Co-finalist for coverage of corporate scandals, Pulitzer Prize, 2002
Education:	BS, Applied Mathematics, Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University, 1994
Contact Info:	Phone: 212-556-1234, main office Fax: None found E-Mail: leonhardt@nytimes.com Website: New York Times profile
Select Publications:	"$73 an Hour: Adding it Up," New York Times, Dec. 9, 2008 "The Trouble with a Homeowner Bailout," New York Times, Oct. 22, 2008 "Obamanomics," New York Times, Aug. 24, 2008 "What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy," New York Times, Jan. 17, 2007 "U.S. Hybrids Get More Miles per Congress," New York Times, June 21, 2006 "The High Costs of Cheap Gas and Vice Versa," New York Times, May 10, 2006
Other:	None found