When far smaller companies find themselves mentioned in the same sentence as “bankruptcy”, it can start a death spiral as creditors grow anxious, tighten terms and aggravate the cash squeeze.

General Motors is vast and will not run out of liquidity any time soon. Its cash pile stood at $19bn at the end of September. It would take quite a few horrible quarters – the last one saw a cash outflow from operations of $2.2bn – to plough through that. There are also assets to sell, such as GM’s crown jewel, GMAC.