ABSTRACT
When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, the automobile industry was in a competitive crisis and the federal government had just bailed out Chrysler. Reagan's neoliberal governing vision was supposed to turnaround the fortunes of autos and all of corporate America. Investors and employers were empowered by Reagan's broad de-regulation of corporations from their historical obligations under labor, anti-trust and environmental laws. In fact, the U.S.-based automobile companies struggled for survival and suffered an almost fatal crisis in the Great Recession. This chapter examines automobile industry governance during the Neoliberal order to demonstrate the continuing centrality of the relationship between work and politics. The chapter argues that the Neoliberal order, no less than the New Deal, is a composite of historical institutional relationships that are held together by a governing vision. Regardless of Republican preferences, the Auto Workers Union was a key player in industrial organization and Republicans’ favoritism to investors kept the auto companies on the edge of collapse. The Obama administration rescued the companies with financial restructuring and a balanced approach to labor and management. However, the chapter also explains why the auto rescue did not become a lesson for a broader modernization in the U.S. economy.
