This level of criminality requires some kind of response, or really, lets just drop the idea of crime as a concept and just monetize "justice". At least we could dispense with some of the more galling hypocrisy, without changing how the system works one iota.
Indeed, one wonders why the government (of the US or of Germany) continues to tolerate the existence of this company at all. They've clearly conspired at the executive level to mislead regulators. The corporation is a figment of the government's imagination. It seems like the government should just stop imagining it.
If the US were to push too hard they are at risk of souring relations with Germany. For Germany the problem is damaging their own economy. In a democracy a recession is an existential threat to the current government. That's much scarier than a company flouting emissions standards.
It's not about shutting down VW, it's about jailing one person, the CEO. Or, if he proves he wasn't aware or wasn't in control of his company, the lower level of management, recursively. It will lightly hamper VW, but provide a personal responsibility baseline for all management in car companies. It's mass, oragnized crime we're talking about here.
> Or, if he proves he wasn't aware or wasn't in control of his company
That's not how the burden of proof works. That said, would this case actually be prosecuted seriously, they would find information relating to how he was informed.
>Indeed, one wonders why the government (of the US or of Germany) continues to tolerate the existence of this company at all
The State of Lower Saxony (one of the German States) holds part of VW's shares. So there's some incentive by at least the state government to protect the company.
Exactly. If private citizens tried fraud on this scale they'd be in prison until they died. Surely dissolution is the least that VW deserves at this point.
Yes, because all those tens of thousands of employees that work at VW were complicit.
/s
Dissolution is definitely not the way to handle this.
What should be done in my opinion is criminal proceedings against the management at the time of VW up to and including Winterkorn.
That would clear the air. Destroying VW for this makes no sense, it would leave 100's of millions of vehicles out there without support and it would cause job losses and economic damages to Germany that are dis-proportional.
Dissolution is definitely not the way to handle this.
Nationalisation would keep all low-level employees and remove the existing money/power structure. And since the banking crisis, we actually have precedent for this.
What an incredible way of thinking. If getting rid of you means losing a lot of jobs, you can break the law for decades with a sneer and hold us all hostage?
