Updated for the current financial crisis. A key passage:

"I heard the thugs in Washington were trying to take your Rearden metal at the point of a gun," she said. "Don't let them, Hank. With your advanced alloy and my high-tech railroad, we'll revitalize our country's failing infrastructure and make big, virtuous profits."

"Oh, no, I got out of that suckers' game. I now run my own hedge-fund firm, Rearden Capital Management."

"What?"

He stood and adjusted his suit jacket so that his body didn't betray his shameful weakness. He walked toward her and sat informally on the edge of her desk. "Why make a product when you can make dollars? Right this second, I'm earning millions in interest off money I don't even have."

He gestured to his floor-to-ceiling windows, a symbol of his productive ability and goodness.

"There's a whole world out there of byzantine financial products just waiting to be invented, Dagny. Let the leeches run my factories into the ground! I hope they do! I've taken out more insurance on a single Rearden Steel bond than the entire company is even worth! When my old company finally tanks, I'll make a cool $877 million."

Their eyes locked with an intensity she was only beginning to understand.

Heh.

To allow to fail or not to allow to fail? That is the question facing Congress as the bigwigs of the Big 3 come groveling again tomorrow.

Angry Bear points to some of the dangers of letting them go under, and concludes by observing:

There are no easy answers any more. We have undoubtably backed ourselves into a corner, with thoughtless tax policies for the rich, incoherent tax policies that might have guided our economic development, and a complete disregard for our manufacturing sector as we celebrated our miserable and miserly banking system that has skimmed, scammed, and leveraged its way to disaster.

No easy answers, yes. And no good ones left, either. GM is done, and the UAW as we've known it is probably done, as well, no matter how much money Congress throws their way.