The US carmakers are running on empty. Congress is fretting over the terms of a $15bn loan to Chrysler and General Motors to tide them over until the spring. This bridge loan, however, leads only to another bridge: in the new year, a “Car Tsar” will supervise longer-term plans for the Big Three, the group of Detroit carmakers that also includes Ford. Any rescue attempts should aim to create a lean, private car industry.

Suffering from the recession and ill-positioned to benefit from a recovery, the Big Three are in trouble. Normally, distressed companies would be allowed to fall into bankruptcy. Parts of the enterprises worth saving, and the jobs they support, could then be rescued. But those who argue for a bail-out say that restructuring finance would not be available because of the credit squeeze. And falling into bankruptcy would undermine the brands, killing further sales. Regrettably, this argument is winning over the logic of bankruptcy.