U. S. to become 70 percent owner of GM

The Wall Street Journal reports today that GM and the UAW have agreed to an arrangement under which the U. S. government would become a 70 percent owner of GM, with the union taking a 17.5 percent stake.

This is precisely the wrong outcome but it or something like it was inevitable once the government began advancing TARP funds to GM. According to the Journal, Treasury has no intention of "directly guiding" GM once it emerges from bankruptcy. Who then will guide GM?

The government has no business owning a private company and no expertise. Liquidation of GM would be a better outcome.