While we're doing "then and now"

Back in June, 2009, this is how Edward L. Glaeser felt about the bailouts:

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the public sector has spent billions saving the banks. While these decisions are certainly debatable, they are understandable. The US financial industry misbehaved badly,... but it is still a sector with a future. ... After all, every other sector in the economy depends on banks for their financing.

But what about cars? ... Does anyone, other than GM's management, believe that this company can come back? The current treatment, cash infusion and a reduction in corporate liabilities, provides a solution for a company that is broke, not for one that is broken.

The future of the financial sector is looking pretty scary these days. How about the auto industry and GM in particular?

Although the transformation has been a long time coming, Ford and the rest of the domestic auto industry appear to be finally giving up their addiction to gas-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles. Prodded first by rising federal fuel economy standards, then shocked in 2008 by $145-a-barrel oil and a global credit crisis that forced General Motors and Chrysler to seek federal bailouts, Detroit is making a fundamental shift toward lighter, more fuel-conscious cars — and turning a profit doing so.