KeithHennessey.com

Many of you are new to this blog since I wrote extensively about autos six weeks ago.  As background, I coordinated the auto loan process for President Bush last fall as the Director of the White House National Economic Council (the position now held by Dr. Lawrence Summers).  I wrote a series of posts on [...]

(Editorial note:  I was doing so well moving to shorter posts.  I fail miserably in achieving that goal here.  I went the comprehensive route instead.  I promise to return to shorter posts in the future.  Buckle up – this is a long ride.  I hope you find it’s worth it.) (Update:  There’s an important correction [...]

The President’s Chrysler announcement last Thursday produced mixed results. The agreement among Chrysler, Fiat, UAW, the Administration, and the large banks appears to increase the probability (from almost zero) that Chrysler will survive for the long run, albeit as a part of Fiat.  This is clearly a good thing. Is it worth the cost to [...]

The Obama Administration is beginning to leak to the press their impending decision on loans to U.S. auto manufacturers.  I am writing in parallel to explain how you might think about such a Presidential decision.  There’s an obvious caveat that every President and each Administration are different, but I hope my explanation will at least [...]

In May of 2007, I wrote “Why are gas prices high, and what can we do about it?”  At the time, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.22. The national average price is now 59¢ higher, at $3.81 per gallon.  That’s down 30¢ from a high of $4.11 in [...]

In his State of the Union address, the President proposed an energy plan we call “Twenty in Ten”.  The goal is to reduce U.S. gasoline usage by 20% within 10 years (by 2017).  There are two main components to 20 in 10 that would reduce gasoline usage: fuel economy standards – we would increase the [...]

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is one penny short of its all-time high (adjusted for inflation), at $3.22 per gallon.  That’s about $1 per gallon higher than early last November.  In recent years, it reached $3.04 in September of 2005, and $3.00 in August of 2006. Q:         Why are [...]