Should Chrysler’s workers (i.e., unsecured creditors) get put in line ahead of its bondholders? Of course not, under normal circumstances. But Chrysler represents anything but normal circumstances, says Daniel Gross, Slate’s Moneybox columnist. Gross argues that the U.S. government was right to do this, in part because investors who bought Chrysler’s debt were already dealing with something besides normal capitalism. He says they got greedy, expecting the government to overpay for their assets. The government called their bluff, and now they can go to the back of the line.
Gross does say this is dangerous if it happens again. He thinks it’s a one-off event. What do you think?
