"Ziegler had contacted me by e-mail, asking if I'd like to interview him; the interview itself was conducted by telephone. Ziegler asked, among other conditions, that I post a full transcript of the interview, which I have. The transcript below is intended to be representative as possible from my shorthand transcript, with the exception of two or three rapid-fire ad-hominem exchanges being edited out. The transcript, however, is not safe for work." Well, I found it funny … but only because this Ziegler guy has zero credibility with me, while Nate has a lot.

"Writing a blank check or sitting back and doing nothing both appear to be less than ideal. Indeed, as Edward L. Glaeser, an economist at Harvard, points out in an entry on this blog, unconditionally supporting the embattled auto industry would be wasteful, yet allowing G.M. to fold would lead to millions of lost jobs.

"He supports a third way: letting the automakers file for Chapter 11 and then allowing the government to intervene."

"Schmidt decried U.S. government policies of the last eight years, which in his eyes have relied on the private sector to fix many ills. It's time to look for new ways for government and private businesses to work with each other to address problems, he said. His ideas, however, will likely face opposition from lawmakers concerned with federal deficits; at one point Schmidt talked about US$10 billion just for tax incentives for alternative energy companies."

"In other words, the loss of a single American car company wouldn’t necessarily dissolve all those jobs that the entire auto industry 'supports.' The failure of General Motors, for example, wouldn’t eliminate the entire car-wash industry. Car-washing jobs are primarily dependent on Americans’ continued demand for automobiles — whether they’re from Detroit or Nagoya — and not the operations of any one automobile company. If a foreign company could swoop in to fill that demand with minimal disruption, then, theoretically, car-wash employees would keep their jobs.

"That’s not to say that there would be no ripple effects whatsoever from a G.M., Chrysler and/or Ford bankruptcy. In fact, C.A.R. has done a more recent — and much more relevant — study on just this question."

"Mr. Chowdhury — who says the idea for EnergyPods came to him in a nap — recalls a seminar in which one banker responded to a survey question with a note saying she knew she had no fatigue-related problems at work because the only time she fell asleep was when she sat still. Mr. Chowdhury laughs a bit ruefully: 'Maybe we could have avoided the crisis we are in now if these people had just gotten proper sleep.' ” As a sleep-apnea sufferer, I can tell you just what a difference getting good sleep makes from my own experience.