John McCain was right about something — he predicted that the economy was “about to crater,” and crater it did. The aggregate effect of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the credit crunch had the magnitude of a meteorite and caused financial havoc unseen since the Great Depression. Perhaps that is why many of America’s landmark industries are going the way of the dinosaurs.

Layoffs and a complete lack of confidence in Wall Street have decimated the savings and spending power of middle class Americans. Industry in turn has suffered, and the Big Three American automakers have been held up as the archetype of the failing and unprofitable American business model.