Impact on Our Economy

The Center for Automotive Research did a study on the impact on the US economy if one or more of the Big 3 went under. They considered two situations: the companies stopping all production in the United States and what would happen if half of employment and production was stopped. Either of these could happen in the next year. They found three types of employment impacts including direct, indirect, and spin-off. In the "100 percent scenario" international production would also be halted because suppliers would not be able to stay in business. 3 million jobs would be lost if the Big Three closed down just in 2009. More would continue to be lost in the following years.