All signs are pointing to GM declaring bankruptcy by mid-2009 if things don’t change significantly. That means more car sales, lower operating costs, etc etc.

What would a GM bankruptcy mean to the world though? This would cause an unthinkable unemployment problem, to the likes of one never before seen. Upwards of 300,000 workers without jobs would cause so much stress to the economy that a collapse would be imminent. With all this news, people are less likely to buy a GM car simply because in six months are they going to be able to honor their warranty? Rental car companies will get rid of any and all GM cars on their lot so they don’t have to go through the trouble of liquidating the cars themselves. The value of GM cars would fall substantially too.

Retirees and the workers of GM would take a hit in bankruptcy. GM could scale down the pension payouts of retirees and the health care benefits of those employed.

Stockholders may be the hardest hit. After everything trickles down to them, there may not be anything left for stockholders.

The prospect of bankruptcy scares the crap out of me. But we, as a country and even on a global scale, may be facing this very soon.

Anyone wanna buy my Hummer off me? It only has a few miles on it and gets great gas mileage!