Randomly Noted

Realism is demanded if you are to see anything positive resulting from the meeting in Pittsburgh later this week of the leaders of the G20 nations.

Don’t expect specific rules about how bankers from Paris to Peoria will in the future be paid, with detailed formulas and upper limits. Sure, some of the leaders gathering at this sensitive economic time would like nothing less, and probably wouldn’t mind personally vetoing more generous individual pay packages.

Don’t expect leaders to follow through on anything broadly perceived to be not in their countries’ best interests, even if it’s not in their worst interests. Maybe the spirit of cooperation will sway some to take action of what is effectively neutral to themselves and beneficial to others.

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Today’s NYT story about the disintegration of the Saturn dealership network http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/business/16saturn.html?hpw got me thinking about Saturn’s role in my married and professional life. When I met my eventual husband in the early 1990s, he was the ultimate Saturn geek, having bought one the year of its debut. Among our earliest outings was to a self-serve car wash in Pittsburgh, where I watched as he sudsed, polished and otherwise cuddled and cosseted his blue-green Saturn SL2. The car accompanied us to Detroit, where I covered Saturn’s maker, General Motors for the WSJ, and our first child was born – her first car seat strapped into the Saturn’s back set.

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