In this show, we take up the issue of General Motors and its risk management practices, focusing on two areas: its pension/healthcare obligation problems, and its fuel efficiency problems.  No doubt the people who run, and who ran, GM claim to be capitalists.  But a competent capitalist must be aware of the risks to their capital, as well as the potential returns.  We'll first focus on a superb new article in The New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell (of The Tipping Point fame) to get our discussion going.  And as always, we'll touch on these other items in the news:

• In Terror War news, Don Rumsfeld not only disagrees with his opposition's solutions to the problems he has caused, but he thinks we don't even have a clue about the realities of the world, and Keith Olbermann's forceful response.
• In environmental news, California sets the pace in GhG regulations, and a big emissions deal gets done in China.
• And in economic news, even though US real wages stagnate poverty doesn't rise above its current sad level, Ben Bernanke (uh, the new Fed Chief folks) sees the downside of globalization.